In Dark of Night (Azure Light Series Part 4)
by BatmanRules256
Summary: Thousands of years after the events of Azure Light and Team Lunar Fire, Shade is about to embark on her Pokemon journey. However, she holds a secret that sets her apart from almost every other trainer. Joined by her partners Pyro and Psy, she sets off on her journey in the secluded Arkorean region. Can she succeed or will she have to return home, defeated? Please review.
1. Before You Read

A Note before reading:

For those of you who've read my other fics, Pokémon Azure Light and The Adventures of Team Lunar Fire, this follows some of the rules of those stories. Pokémon aren't limited to their game canon movesets (so if you see a Pokémon use a move that it doesn't normally learn, then remember this—they won't learn physically impossible moves—for example, a Fire Type won't learn Ice Type moves and vice versa). It's sort of like a half Nuzlocke, but don't expect it to follow the rules. Any other seemingly strange events probably have some link to those stories, so you've been warned (also, this isn't spoilers—this story shouldn't reveal anything from Azure Light or Team Lunar Fire). Also, there's a few non-canon surprises that you'll immediately recognize when it gets to them, so keep a look out.

Please enjoy and review. I appreciate the comments.


	2. Prologue: The Shadow

Prologue: A Shadow

" _ **A long time ago, there was a shadow. It consisted of flames made of pure darkness. It walked among others, looking like one of them. But, it knew it wasn't, no matter how hard it tried to deny it. It had a treasure it held close to its heart, something that it truly could not live without. One day, that treasure was gone, taken from it. The shadow did everything in its power to retrieve it, nearly losing its own life in the process. It retrieved it, the very sight of it causing it to experience the one thing it never truly had experienced before: joy.**_ _ **The shadow and its treasure, having been reunited, soon faced another problem. The shadow and its treasure, to face the problem, became one and the same, sharing their power and abilities. Such was the bond that they shared."**_

"Is that the entire story?" she asked her mother as she settled in for bed.

"That's all I know." Her mother said. "I've heard there's more, but I've never actually heard it."

"Oh." She said, disappointed. "Well, it's okay."

"So" her mother asked. "Have you finished preparing?"

"I'm not going on my journey yet." She said, laughing. "I'm not thirteen yet."

"But you will be soon." Her other said. "And you'll have a special partner to share your friendship with."

"It's gonna be fun!" she shouted.

"Shh." Her mother shushed her gently. "You need to go to sleep now. Tomorrow's another day."

"Okay, mommy." She said, kissing her mother goodnight.

"Good night, sweetie." Her mother said, kissing her.

"I love you mommy." She said, hugging her mother.

"And I love you" her mother said, hugging her back. "My little Shade."

* * *

and that ends the prologue. It was short, yes, but i really didn't have much else for this part. Rest assured, the next chapters will be longer. Much longer.

Also if you don't know what the cover image for this fic is, it's a Darkrai and a pokeball.


	3. Start of a Journey: Allies

Chapter One: Start of a Journey: Allies

Another night with a strange dream. A strange man and a woman saying something about Destiny. Why was she so different? She didn't understand. Also there was that annoying beeping. Or was it ringing?

Her alarm clock rang, disturbing her sleep. She hit the snooze button and got out of bed. She yawned and stretched, clearing the lactic acid out of her arms. Once she finished stretching, she looked over to her bed where the two closest friends she had were still sleeping, both of them snoring.

Pyro, the louder snorer, had brown fur all over her body, save for a collar like mane around her neck that was white and the end of her tail, which was also white. Said tail was really fluffy and was almost a foot long and almost six inches thick. Her actual size was about a foot tall, but that didn't really bother her. Her four legs were small, but they were very strong. Her ears were long and came to points in the end. The insides were black, like charcoal. Her nose was black and very small, like a smudge. Her eyes, if they were open, were brown and black, very liquid and soft, but had what seemed to be a fire of fury and courage deep down inside them.

Psy, the quieter snorer (pretty much silent), had white fur. She appeared to be wearing what resembled a long, white robe or nightgown. Her legs were bent under it (she walked on her knees half the time). At full height, she was just a little bit taller than Pyro. Her arms were thin and seemed graceful, in slight description. She had green hair that resembled a helmet or bowl cut in shape. Two round, red horn-like objects protruded from it, on pointing up and forward, the other pointing up and backwards. They seemed to warm up when she was happy. Her eyes, were they visible (they're hidden by the "helmet"), were red with the smallest possible traces of black mixed in. They were warm and friendly (not that they were really seen often). Her mouth was small, but her smile was always big, just like her heart (in the figurative sense).

"Hey, guys." Shade said, lightly shaking them, her voice confident. "It's time to wake up."

"Five more minutes" Pyro said, smacking Shade's hand away with her paw, her voice fiery. "Give me five more minutes, mom."

"Pyro" Shade said, shaking her best friend again. "You need to wake up."

"Ugh, fine!" the Eevee said, as she sat up in the bed, stretching herself. "I'm up."

"Your turn next, Psy." Shade said, gently shaking her other best friend.

"Allright Shade." The Ralts said, her voice gentle and quiet. "I'm up."

"Great." Shade said, clenching her fist. "Let's get going. We've got a big day ahead of us."

"But Shade." Psy said in her quiet voice. "You're still in your pajamas."

"What?" Shade asked. She looked down to see that she was indeed still in her pajamas. They were pink striped with black hearts on them.

"Oh" Shade said, her face getting a little redder. "I guess I am."

"You should get changed." Pyro said. "Those pajamas are hideous."

"Well" Shade said, shrugging her shoulders. "My other ones are in the wash."

"Whatever." Pyro said, laughing. "Just get changed already."

"Fine." Said Shade, stripping out of her pajamas and putting on her clothes for the day. She put on her black pants and black shirt. She put a black jacket on over it, leaving it unzipped (she really likes black). She put on her favorite black shoes. She combed her black hair, making it softer and lusher. She looked in her mirror, seeing her icy blue black eyes staring back at her. They seemed shimmer in the right light.

Making sure she was ready, Shade walked to the door of her room. Pyro and Psy jumped off the bed and walked over to the door as well. Shade opened the door, her and her two best friends stepping out into the kitchen, ready to start the day.

"Good morning, Shade dear." Her mother, Night, greeted her. "Did you three sleep well?"

"Yep." The three girls said.

"I take it from Pyro and Psy's input" Night said, laughing. "That they had a good night's sleep as well."

"They sure did." Shade said. "I had a little trouble getting them up (mostly Pyro), but they slept well."

"I still wanted five more minutes." Pyro said, grumbling under her breath.

"Quiet, Pyro." Shade whispered under her breath.

"Did Pyro say something?" Night asked, looking at her daughter.

"She said she wanted five more minutes." Shade said.

"Well" Night said, laughing. "I'm right there with her. If she wants to join me for a nap later, she can."

"Pass!" Pyro said. She walked up to the breakfast table. "I'd prefer to train."

"What did she say this time?" Night asked her daughter.

"She said she'd rather train." Shade said, getting cereal for her and her two partners.

"Well, she does love that." Night said. "Maybe she could train some after breakfast."

"Cool." Shade said, eating her cereal.

"Just don't break anything when you do." Night said, heading back into her room.

"Okay." Shade said, still eating.

" _She's still the same girl she was five years ago."_ Night thought from inside her room as she went into her bathroom to take a shower. _"Still believes she can understand her Pokémon. Such a great imagination. No one's been able to talk to Pokémon for centuries. And those that claimed to were labelled insane. I hope she keeps her imagination to herself when she leaves for her journey. I don't want her to end up like those people."_

 _With Shade, Pyro, and Psy_

"So" Pyro said with her mouth full of cereal. "What should we do first? Should we train a little or head out?"

"We need supplies." Shade said, eating her cereal.

"Supplies for what?" Shade's uncle, Alucard, who lived with her and her mother, asked as he entered the room. He was dressed in a black shirt with black pants, black boots, a red hat and a blood red trench coat with two large pistols capable of killing vampires tucked inside (ignore that last part—wrong Alucard). He had on a small red ascot that went really well with his red eyes (which were almost always hidden behind his red-orange glasses).

"I'm going on a Pokémon journey today." Shade said. "I need basic supplies for travel and such."

"Right" Alucard said, remembering. "I did hear something about you starting your journey."

"Yep." Shade said. Pyro and Psy said their agreements (not that Alucard could understand). "Today's the day."

"In that case" Alucard said, pulling a box from his coat (at first Shade and her two friends thought it was a gun (for, um, reasons)). "Let me give you a present for your journey."

Shade opened the box to find a red scarf that was a crimson color. She squealed and put it on (she loved scarves and had always liked red).

"Thanks uncle Alucard." Shade said, admiring herself in the mirror. "I love it."

"I knew you would." Alucard said, chuckling. "Now go enjoy your journey."

"Okay." Shade said, going to her room and packing a few supplies that she would need on her journey.

"Now I'm all packed." She said, walking towards the front door, along with Psy and Pyro. She gave one last look at her house before she walked out the door, the last time she would do so until the end of her journey.

 _Outside the house_

She was on her journey, leaving her friends in Pokea Town behind. Her two best friends were right beside her every step of the way. As she walked through the Pokea Town gates, she felt a sense of pride. She was finally going to take on the league challenge, going to try to beat the league. Her sister, Luna, had tried the league challenge six years earlier, but she hadn't been heard from since. But Shade was going to triumph where her sister had not. She was going to succeed or die trying.

"It feels good to be out of the house." Pyro said. "It's been getting stuffier in there every week."

"I have to agree with Pyro." Psy said.

"My mom kept using these dumb candles." Shade said. "I don't like them either and my uncle complained that they disrupted his aura or something like that."

"Well, now we have fresh air and beauty." Psy said, sniffing a flower on the side of the road.

"Yeah." Pyro said, taking a deep breath. "Smell that good air."

"Pokea Town did have its fair share of smog." Shade said, stopping in front of a sign. "But now we're here on the start of our journey. This is our first day."

"Yeah." Pyro said, standing tall (somewhat) on her four strong legs. "Shade, what does the sign say about the route number?"

"It's" Shade said, reading the sign. "1006"

"Really?" Pyro said, looking back at her best friend.

"Yeah." Shade said, rereading the sign. "Kick some ass, Pyro."

"Yay" Pyro said, jumping into the grass, only to be attacked by about ten pissed off Pidgey. Pyro was thrown out of the grass over to Shade's feet.

"Um, Shade." Psy said, teleporting onto Shade's shoulder and whispering into her ear. Shade's expression turned to confusion as she grabbed a Potion from her bag (healing items in this fic are orbs that one crushes in their hand, allowing he contents to fall over a Pokémon and heal it—sometimes a Pokémon broke it themselves so as to get all the juices).

"Pyro" Shade said. "I read the sign upside down. It's over 9000. Rah! *insert Shade breaking the Potion, the juice falling onto Pyro*"

"You sound bored." Psy said as Pyro stood up and ran back into the grass.

"It's still not a threat." Shade said. "We're strong enough to handle anything this route could throw at us. See, Pyro's already gotten her revenge."

"I think I'm part Saiyan." Pyro said as she threw ten unconscious Pidgey at Shade's feet. "Because I am just super."

"Enough with the bad Dragon Ball jokes." Psy said, teleporting down onto the ground next to Pyro. "Let's train a little bit."

"But I didn't get to make a Princess of all badasses joke." Pyro whined.

"Should we catch a Pokémon here?" Shade asked, changing the subject.

"Do you have any Pokéballs?" Psy asked.

"I—dammit!" Shade cursed. "I knew we should have picked some up on our last shopping trip."

"Well, that's your own fault." Pyro said, walking toward the grass, moving her tail with craftiness, as if sneaking up on some unsuspecting prey.

"You were with me." Shade said, pointing out her best friend's flaw in her argument.

"It was your shopping trip." Psy said, pointing out Shade's own flaw.

"Whatever the case" Shade said. "We have no Pokéballs until we reach New Tao City."

"How far away is that?" Psy asked, curious.

"Only about a day's walk." Shade said. "We should be there by tomorrow."

"That's going to be a long walk!" Pyro called from the grass where she was happily beating the sh!t on whatever she happened to find (man, Eevee are scary mother #$ers).

"You'll have to deal with it." Shade said. "We're going there for the first gym challenge anyway."

"Whatever." Pyro said as she walked back over to where Shade and Psy were. "I'm tired of fighting the stuff on this route anyway."

"Well, then" Shade said, walking down the road. "Let's get going. It's going to get dark in a few hours and I want to at least get most of the way there."

"Good luck with that idea." Pyro said, chuckling. "With your determination and distractability we'll evolve long before we even get to the city."

"If we evolve" Psy said, holding up a finger. "Then we'll be more prepared to face the Gym leader."

"She's a Flying type leader." Pyro said. "As long as I don't evolve into a Leafeon, we'll be fine."

'You're putting a lot of faith in yourself." Shade said.

"If one of us is at a disadvantage" Pyro said. "Then we're all at a disadvantage. That's the twelfth rule of battling."

"I see." Shade said. "Well, since you brought it up, what do you want to evolve into? We never really established it in our last talk."

"I want to be the most badass Eeveelution there is." Pyro said. "Which limits me to an Umbreon or a Flareon. I'm leaning more toward Flareon. "So, if you got a Fire Stone…"

"We'll have to get one at the store." Shade said. "I don't have any stones."

"Damn it!" Pyro exclaimed. "I wanted to burn the grass."

"You're very destructive." Shade pointed out.

"I love to fight." Pyro said.

"That you do." Psy said as she heard a noise. "What was that?"

"I heard it too." Shade said. "It came from behind those bushes."

"Let's go check it out." Pyro said, running quietly over to the bushes. Shade and Psy followed, quietly moving the bush's branches so they could see what was behind it.

Behind the bush they saw two Pokémon. They were launching strange Shadow Balls at each other, the black orbs colliding in midair (they were strange because Shadow Balls are a deep purple color, not unlike the color of a Purrloin's fur— these were black).

The first Pokémon was a very, very light pink in color. It was very cute in its looks and seemed feminine in voice and looks (because it was a girl). Her shape was round, but not quite fully round. She had two short, pink legs. They had two toes each. The toes had small claws on the end of them. Her arms were about the same length as her legs. They had three fingers each. She had a tail that curled around in a spiral pattern. It rested behind her back. She had six points on her back that resembled angels' wings. She had two points on her head that ended in black tips (these were part of her ears). She had a curl of hair that curled in the same shape as her tail right between her ears. Her eyes were small, but they were vibrant and gentle. They were blackish red in color. Her mouth was small, but it seemed like it could smile a mile wide. She was a Clefable.

The other Pokémon was almost the opposite of the Clefable in terms of color. It was also a male, judging by its voice and attitude as well as looks. His body was a deep black color. His shape was very similar to that of the Clefable's. On his back were black pointy spikes that were similar to quills (large, painful quills). He had a thick tail that went out behind him. His arms were small and ended in three claws. His ears (or what resembled his ears) were pointed and black. His eyes were red, a deep crimson. He had an enormous grin that seemed very sinister. He was a Gengar (this Gengar is different, if you're wondering why he's the wrong color).

"What are they?" Shade asked.

"The lighter one's a Clefable." Psy said, using her Psychic powers. "And the Darker one's a Gengar."

"Think we could take 'em?" Pyro asked her Pokémon companion.

"The power level of one of them is more than ours combined." Psy said. "It would be suicide. Both of them dwarf us. And I don't think that this is the full extent of their power."

"You talk about power levels like they actually exist and matter." Shade said to her Psychic best friend. "I've watched enough Dragon Ball Z to know that they're bullsh!t. Besides, don't Pokémon go by XP levels?"

"That's a method invented by humans." Pyro said.

"How come I didn't know that before?" Shade asked.

"You never asked us before silly." Psy said, giggling.

"So, wait." Shade said. "What's the difference?"

"XP levels are how a measure of a Pokémon's stats according to the moves they know and the strength, speed, and durability they have." Psy explained. "They are constantly growing as a Pokémon wins fights. But, it doesn't leave room for a Pokémon to be holding back power in its calculations, and doesn't account for when a Pokémon powers up or down due to a move or a Mega Evolution."

"Whereas power levels" Pyro continued. "Are actually more accurate than people believe. It shows the current power of the individual being scanned. It's just that usually people believe that what they read is the maximum they can put out, so they usually underestimate them. Most Pokémon can in fact hide their power levels and do so. Also it changes as a Pokémon raises or lowers its power as well as when it evolves or Mega Evolves."

"Another thing is" Psy said. "That a power level doesn't include strength. It's the amount of energy a Pokémon can put out in a given time."

"And just between us." Pyro said, whispering in Shade's ear. "Even an infant is capable of learning Hyper Beam under certain circumstances. Most of what people believe about Pokémon is untrue."

"Interesting." Shade said. "When you guys were telling me stuff about yourselves when we were younger, I thought you were telling stories, but you were telling me facts about all Pokémon."

"Yep." Psy said. "But back to the matter at hand."

"Yeah" Pyso said as she looked over at where the Gengar and Clefable were. "We should go kick their… asses. Where'd they go?"

"Where are they?" Shade asked, noticing that they were indeed missing. "They couldn't have just disappeared, could they?"

"Actually." A voice came from behind the three friends. "We can. But that's beside the point. We're right behind you."

"Aahh!" the three females jumped, turning around.

"What?" the Gengar asked, chuckling slightly. "Did I scare you?"

"What do you want?" Shade asked.

"Your stuff." The Gengar said.

"Try and take it." Pyro growled as she and Psy stood in front of Shade, ready to defend her.

"Oh, please." The Gengar said. "We can smash both of your asses a dozen times over."

"Try it!" Pyro said, leaping towards the Gengar and using Bite. The Gengar didn't move when the attack landed.

"I expected more from an Eevee." The Gengar said, grabbing Pyro by the neck and beginning to choke her.

"Leave her alone!" Psy shouted, using a Dazzling Gleam attack on the Gengar. He flinched, but the Clefable fired a "Shadow Ball" at her, which knocked her back a few feet.

"What was that?" Shade asked, confused. "That should have done less damage to that Gengar, him being a Poison type, but it seemed to be extra effective. What is he?"

"I'm something you'd best not mess with." The Gengar said, walking over to Shade while holding Pyro and Psy by the neck, both of them unconscious.

"Leave my friends alone!" Shade shouted, running over to the Gengar and **punching him in the face**.

"That shouldn't have affected me." The Gengar said, actually looking confused. "Now, I'm going to teach your friends why you shouldn't try to mess with a Gengar."

"Wait" Shade said, standing up. "Don't hurt them. I'll give you my stuff if you'll leave them alone."

"Then get started." The Clefable said.

Shade took off her bag and tossed it to the Gengar, who dropped Pyro to grab it. He put Psy on the ground and dug through the bag, pulling two yellow orbs out. He crushed them in his hand, the juice pouring onto Pyro and Psy's bodies. They slowly blinked their eyes, returning to consciousness.

The Gengar tossed Shade's bag back to her. She caught it and looked at the Gengar and Clefable in confusion.

"It would seem that you're who we're looking for." The Gengar said, walking up to Shade. Pyro and Psy stood in front of her, ready to fight them again.

"I'm done fighting for now." The Gengar said, the Clefable walking up to him and taking his hand. "But we would like to join you in your journey."

"Why?" Shade asked.

"You're special." The Clefable said. "Not very many people can talk to Pokémon. It takes a being of a pure heart."

"Really?" Shade asked.

"Most people are locked up when others find out they can speak our language." The Gengar said. "Let's hope you don't end up the same way."

"Why did you try to take our stuff?" Psy asked.

"To test you." The Clefable said. "We needed to know if you were as pure hearted as we think."

"Let me tell you something, ghost." Pyro said, standing in front of the Gengar and growling, which did nothing in terms of intimidation (an Eevee still looks adorable even when it's mad). "Shade is the kindest, most caring, and sweetest person I've ever met. And we would fight to the death for her. And she'd do the same for us."

"Then we have something in common." The Gengar said. "It's nice to make your acquaintance, Shade."

"My name is Pyro." Pyro said, standing proud and tall. "I'm gonna be the most badass Flareon in the world."

"Sorry, Pyro." The Clefable said. "Someone else already secured that spot for herself."

"And I'm Psy." The Ralts introduced herself. "I'm helping Shade complete her journey."

"I'm Shade." Shade said. "I'm a rookie trainer trying to enter the Pokémon League."

"My name is Shadow" the Clefable said, introducing herself.

"And I'm Ace." The Gengar said. "We're similar to Yin and Yang."

"How so?" Psy asked.

"A Gengar is a Clefable's shadow." Ace explained.

"What?" Shade asked, confused.

"Let me explain." Ace said. "Clefable and Gengar are interdimensional beings. When a Clefable is born, a ritual is preformed that removes the Darkness from its soul. That Darkness fuses with its shadow, becoming a Gengar. This doesn't mean that a Gengar is evil and a Clefable is good, but the two parts of the soul are separated. It is a symbiotic relationship. If the Gengar or the Clefable dies, the other will die too."

"But both of them are evolved beings." Pyro said, thinking it over. "That take stones. A Clefable needs a Moon Stone and an Gengar needs a Dusk Stone (in this fic Gengar, or any Pokémon for that matter, don't evolve by trade, but by a specific Stone or by their own power)

"Not exactly." Shadow said. "When a Clefable or Gengar crosses into this dimension, the act of dimensional travel drains so much of their energy that they revert to a weaker forme, those of Cleffa and Ghastly respectively. They regain energy by attacking things in this dimension and build enough energy to evolve into a new forme, eventually reaching their true formes."

"That's not what the Pokédex says." Shade said.

"The Pokédex is bullshit!" Ace shouted.

"How so?" Shade asked.

"Take a Charizard for example." Shadow said. "If a Charizard's tail flame goes out, it won't die. It will be unable to use Fire type moves until it is relit, however."

"Pretty much the only thing that's right in the Pokédex" Ace said. "Is the average height and weight for Pokémon."

"Average?" Shade asked.

"Yeah." Shadow said, giggling. "You didn't think every Charizard was five foot seven did you?"

"No" Shade said. "But I thought that it was closer to the normal than that."

"Well" Ace said. "now that we've ruined your perception of human science and examination, let's continue on your journey."

"Where is your first stop?" Shadow asked.

"New Tao City." Psy said. "We're going to challenge Korra, the Flying Type Gym leader."

"Funny" Ace quietly whispered to Shadow, but not quiet enough that everyone else couldn't hear. "I heard she used to have trouble training Flying types."

"Yeah." Pyro said. "She said in an interview that she prefers Water, Fire, and Ground types. She also said that it took her years for Flying types to trust her enough to let them train her."

"Well, then" Shadow said. "It seems you have an advantage, then."

"How so?" Shade asked.

"She has little experience with Flying types." Ace explained. "You guys could use that to your advantage."

"But I have little experience as a trainer." Shade said. "And she has years. If anything, she has that much of an advantage on me."

"You'll win." Ace said, shrugging his short arms. "You've got guts."

"Oh" Shadow said. "And we're not helping you in the first battle."

"Why not?" Shade asked.

"You need to learn to fight yourself." Ace said. "We'll help you later though."

"Allright." Shade said, sighing. "That makes sense."

"We will help you guys train, though." Ace said. "You could use some training from a very experienced opponent."

"You two can train us?" Psy asked.

"Yep." Ace said. "Let's get started. Shadow, you train Psy and I'll take Pyro."

"Allright." Shadow said. She led Psy a little ways away, talking with her. Ace moved Pyro over a little ways and began to train her. Shade watched the two Parallels train her two best friends (google search Clefable Gengar and you'll understand that).

 _With Shadow and Psy_

"Now, Psy." Shadow said, standing in front of the young Ralts. "You're going to need to focus your full powers into your attacks if you want to do decent damage with them."

"I don't know how." Psy said. "I just attack with whatever I can get."

"Well, I'll teach you." Shadow said. "It's actually very simple."

"You seem to know a lot about Psychic abilities." Psy said.

"I've used a few here and there" Shadow said, smirking a little.

 _With Ace and Pyro_

"Your power is mostly offensive." Ace said, sizing up the young Eevee. "So, let's work on making it come out in force."

"What do you mean?" Pyro asked.

"We're going to make you stronger in your physical power." Ace said. "And when you evolve, we'll work on the attributes that come with your next stage."

"You seem to know a lot about power." Pyro said. "A lot more than a Gengar should know."

"Trust me." Ace said. "I'm expert when it comes to power."

 _With Psy and Shadow_

"Psychic!" Psy shouted, using one of the most powerful Psychic type moves in existence on her opponent, Shadow. Shadow, however, was almost completely unaffected by the Psychic attack.

"You need to focus more." Shadow said. "Otherwise you'll never be able to use that attack effectively. If you plan on using it to the best, then make it strong, strong enough to hurt a Dark type."

"But Dark types are immune to Psychic type attacks." Psy said.

"This is something you should learn at this point." Shadow said. "Immunities can be nullified if the power gap is sufficient."

"What does that mean?" Psy asked, confused.

"It means" Shadow explained "if your Psychic type attack is powerful enough, then not even the immunities of one's type can stop you. You don't even have to use a move like Miracle eye or Foresight."

"Cool." Psy said. "But, does that mean that a Dragon can hurt a Fairy type?"

"Yes." Shadow said. "But you shouldn't have to worry about that yet. There are no Dragon types around here."

"Oh, good." Psy said. "But I still need to work on my Fairy type moves as well as some minor physical combat."

"Let's do it then." Shadow said, getting into a fighting pose. Psy did the same. The two of them leapt away from each other, launching Shadow Balls and Psychic Blasts at each other.

 _With Ace and Pyro_

"Another thing you should know" Ace said "is that even if a Pokémon is immune to a certain type due to an ability or type, they can still be affected by the force of certain moves. For example, if a Pokémon with Flash Fire is hit by a Blaze Kick, the Fire aspect wouldn't hurt them, but getting kicked in the face would still break something."

"Cool." Pyro said, her eyes wide. "So if I become a Flareon, my Fire power would be super high?"

"If you train hard." Ace said. "Otherwise you'd be weak and your Fire couldn't melt ice."

"So, I have to train." Pyro said.

"I think that's a 'duh' statement." Ace said. "Now, let's see how that attack looks in actuality."

"Bring it on!" Pyro called, getting into a fighting stance. Ace also got into a fighting stance.

The two of them leapt towards each other, a Dark Punch (Pyro is a normal type) and a powerful Bite attack colliding in midair from the two fighters.

 _Later_

The four fighters sat down on the ground, panting. Psy and Pyro were panting more than Ace and Shadow. Shade walked over to the groups, impressed.

"That was epic!" she said, picking up her two best friends and hugging them. "You guys were awesome!"

"Your partners can fight." Ace said. "I've never had such a good fight from a rookie Pokémon. You've impressed me, Pyro."

"You did great, Psy." Shadow said, giving the young Riolu a thumbs-up. "Keep up the great work."

"It's getting dark." Shade said, looking up at the sky. "We should make camp."

"Follow us." Ace and Shadow said, walking further into the woods. "We know a place that will shelter us for the night. Tomorrow you take on the gym."

"How far is New Tao City from here?" Shade asked.

"About two hours." Shadow said. "But it's going to rain, so let's get into the woods and seek shelter."

"Allright." Shade said, carrying her tired partners as she followed the Mirror Pokémon (that's what they're called because they're basically mirror images of each other, besides color) into the woods. Tomorrow they would take on the Avatar Gym leader, Korra, and her team of Flying type Pokémon. But, for now, they needed some sleep.

* * *

So, Shade has started her journey. Will she succeed? Or will she fail? You won't find out in this chapter. Can she trust these strange pokemon, Ace and Shadow? Find out on Dragon Ball Z-er i mean, un In Dark of Night

* * *

So, this is the first chapter. I'd love to hear what you thought of it. Please bear in mind that i've never written a trainer style fic before (I started to on Deviantart, but it didn't work-was way to short). And, yes, her uncle is a clear reference.


	4. New Tao City

Chapter Two: New Tao City

 _New Tao City_

"So, this is New Tao City." Shade said, her best friends, Psy the Ralts and Pyro the Eevee walking beside her as well as her new friends, Ace the Gengar and Shadow the Clefable. "It's huge."

"You should see Dragonsdale." Ace said. "That place makes this one seem like your house by comparison."

"My house isn't small." Shade said.

"Compared to a city it is." Shadow said.

"True." Shade surrendered.

"So" Shadow asked. "What's our first stop?"

"Well" Shade said, recalling what she had been told earlier. "My mother said to stop by and see Professor Evergreen in her lab so that I can get a Pokédex."

"Pokédexes are bullsh!t." Ace said. "Pretty much everything that humans think they know about Pokémon is false."

"We went over this." Shade said. "I know that. But, a Pokédex carries a person's trainer ID. I can't even take the gym challenge without it."

"So" Ace thought out loud. "It has more of a purpose than just spouting bullsh!t."

"Yeah." Psy said. "It does. It's just one of those things that we have to have."

"Well, let's go get it." Ace said, walking in front of the group.

"Allright." Shade said, pulling out a Town Map her mother had packed with her. "Her lab is on Tenth Street which should be to our left."

The group looked left, noticing the building on the road marked LAB. They walked over to it, the doors automatically opening for them.

They walked in to find a woman wearing a white lab coat. She had her back to the five individuals, but when she heard them, she turned around. Ace and Shadow gasped when they saw her face.

She was wearing a black, thigh length dress that seemed tattered. Shen had boots that covered almost all of her legs. The boots had platforms on them that were about an inch and a half. They were tattered as well. The dress had gloves attached that were made of the same material and seemed to resemble claws in the slightest degree. Red stones lined the collar area of her dress. The dress was a low cut, but not low enough to reveal anything. She had a band around her neck with a red stone attached to it. Her hair was as white as her dress was black and went down almost to her legs. Her lips were drawn into an expression of coldness. Her eyes were an icy blue and were her most intimidating feature.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a cold, yet pleasant voice.

"We're here to see the professor." Psy said, immediately remembering that humans couldn't understand Pokémon.

"She's out." The woman replied, to the shock of Shade, Psy, and Pyro.

"Yes, I can understand you." The woman said. "I'm assisting the professor today. My name is Darkora. What are yours?"

"My name is Shade." Shade introduced herself. "The Ralts here is Psy and the Eevee is Pyro. They're my partners. The Gengar is Ace and the Clefable is Shadow."

"I've met those two." Dakrora said.

"So, you're an assistant now?" Ace asked.

"No." Darkora said. "I'm just here to check on my old friend, Professor Evergreen."

"Is she in?" Pyro asked. "We need to hurry to the Gym and beat some bitches up."

"She's a lot like you." Darkora said to Ace.

"I noticed the same thing." Shade said.

"Well" Darkora said, pulling a Pokéball out of her belt. "I can't just hand you a Pokédex without seeing if you're worthy of being a trainer."

"You want to battle me?" Shade asked, confused.

"Yes." Darkora said. "I can't have unqualified trainers running about and causing problems for the region, now can I?"

"I guess not." Shade agreed. "So, let's get started."

"Allright." Darkora said, pulling out a second Pokéball from her belt. "This is a two-on-two match. I'll fight your partner's there."

Darkora pointed at Pyro and Psy, the two of them stepping up a couple of steps.

"I don't want them involved." Darkora said, pointing at Ace and Shadow. "They're too tough for this."

"Are they really that powerful?" Shade asked.

"This is to test a rookie trainer and her Pokémon." Darkora said. "They're above the rookie rank."

"We weren't going to fight anyway." Ace said. "I've seen what you use to train rookies. It's not that strong."

"Hey" Darkora said, stopping Ace's comment. "Don't insult him. He's to train **rookies**."

"Whatever." Ace said.

"I wanna fight first." Pyro said, walking in front of Darkora.

"Allright." Darkora said, tossing out her first Pokémon, a Poochyena. The Poochyena growled at Pyro, who growled back. Both Pokémon lunged at each other, using their Bite attacks. Pyro, however, seemed to have a slight advantage and clamped her teeth down on the Poochyena. The Poochyena cried out in pain, but Pyro didn't let up. In fact, she began to repeatedly bite down on the Poochyena's neck, causing him to cry out in even more pain. Eventually, the Poochyena fainted from Pyro' Bite attacks.

Shade, Darkora, Psy, and Shadow were staring in shock.

"What happened?" Darkora asked. "Your Eevee shouldn't have been able to overpower my Poochyena like that."

"I trained her." Ace said. "Though that was unexpected, I did teach her to be more powerful and violent."

"Well, it paid off." Shade said. "Pyro's much stronger now."

"Now it's time for your Ralts to have a turn." Darkora said, throwing her other Pokéball. Out of it exploded a Zorua, which stood in front of Psy and moved around her seductively. Psy moved shyly away behind Shade's leg, the Zorua's attitude unnerving her.

"It seems like my Zorua likes your Ralts." Darkora said, laughing at the scene.

"Psy, use Disarming Voice." Shade said, the first actual command she'd given to her Pokémon since she'd been friends with them (some trainers have the ability to communicate telepathically with their Pokémon for move commands or their Pokémon are skilled enough to fight for themselves—for Shade's team it is a mix of the two—her Pokémon usually fight for themselves with only one or two commands from Shade (mostly on dodging)—Shade rarely gives a spoken command—in this case, it's because Psy is too nervous to attack).

Psy nodded and cried a Pokémon cry, the voice itself becoming extremely pleasant and cute. But sounds can be deceiving, for the Zorua began to shake, grabbing his ears and rolling on the ground.

Psy walked over to the Fox Pokémon and used her psychic abilities to throw him across the room.

"Nice." Shadow said, giving the young Ralts a thumbs-up. "Your training's paid off as well."

"So." Darkora said, recalling her Pokémon. "It would seem as though you have skills that I didn't see. You're ready to take on the Pokémon challenge."

"Yes." Shade said, pumping her fist in the air.

"What's going on in here?" a woman's voice came from the front door of the lab. It belonged to a woman that appeared to be in her thirties and had green hair. She was wearing a blue shirt underneath her lab coat with pants to match. She was wearing simple heels that raised her feet by one inch. This was Professor Evergreen.

"I'm just seeing if this trainer here is qualified." Darkora said, putting her Pokéballs away.

"Thank you, Darkora" Professor Evergreen said, shaking the white haired girl's hand. "But I think she's qualified anyway."

"She beat my team in less than a minute." Darkora said.

Professor Evergreen's jaw dropped open at this.

"Don't worry." Darkora assured the professor. "It was my rookie training team."

"Oh." Professor Evergreen said. "That makes more sense."

"She's taking on the league challenge." Darkora said.

"Then I'll need to get you a Pokédex." Professor Evergreen addressed Shade. "It will be your way of access as well as keep your ID."

"Thank you." Shade said, smiling sweetly. Professor Evergreen walked into the back room of the lab and returned with a small red rectangle.

"This is your Pokédex." Professor Evergreen said, handing the rectangle to Shade. "It will tell you data on any Pokémon you encounter in your journey. It's been updated since scientists have discovered more information about certain species of Pokémon."

"I told you it was bullsh!t." Ace whispered to Shade.

"Cool." Shade said, ignoring the Gengar and taking the Pokédex from the professor.

"Why don't you try it out on your Pokémon?" Professor Evergreen said.

"Okay." Shade said, pointing her new Pokédex at Psy.

" _Ralts"_ the machine spoke as a picture of a Ralts appeared on the screen. _"The Emotion Pokémon. A Ralts has feelers in its horns that can pick up emotions. If it feels pleasant emotions, especially from its trainer, it warms up slightly."_

"Interesting." Shade said. She then pointed it at her Eevee, the screen showing a picture of an Eevee.

" _Eevee."_ It spoke. _"The Evolution Pokémon. An Eevee can evolve into several different Pokémon, each of a different type. Its evolutionary path depends on its will or the type of Stone involved in training it."_

"Woah." Shade said. She then pointed the Pokédex at Ace.

" _Error."_ The machine spoke, the word 'error' appearing on the screen. _"Data not found. Pokémon unknown."_

"That's odd." Professor Evergreen said, taking the Pokédex and pointing it at Ace, which got the same message. "It should have data on Gengar."

"Point it at Shadow." Darkora said. Shade obeyed, the same message appearing on the screen and the same recording playing.

"That's very odd." Professor Evergreen said, looking the Pokédex over. "I know there's data on Clefable in the Pokédex."

"It's fine." Darkora said, looking at Ace and Shadow, who snickered and giggled respectively. "I'm sure it will be fixed later."

"I hope so." Professor Evergreen said, starting to look flustered. "I'd hate for other trainers to have this problem. What if this happens with other Pokémon?"

"Then it will be fixed in a later update." Darkora said, standing up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."

"First I want my lab coat back." Professor Evergreen said.

"But I love it!" Darkora whined jokingly, running towards the door, Professor Evergreen on her heels.

"So" Shade said, after the two of them had left the lab. "What should we do now?"

"I say we head to the Pokémon Center and let Psy and Pyro rest up." Shadow said. "After they've rested up, we can go to the Gym."

"Cool." Shade said. "I saw a shopping mall on the map, so we should hit that after the Gym."

"Boring." Ace said. Pyro and Psy nodded in agreement.

"We need supplies for the journey." Shade said. "I don't have any Pokéballs and I'm running out of Potions."

"Well, I don't want to go shopping." Ace said.

"Me either." Pyro said.

"I'd like to stay out as well." Psy said sweetly.

"I'll go shopping with you, Shade" Shadow said, taking Shade's hand.

"Thanks, Shadow." Shade said. "Now, let's go to the Center and let our two fighters rest."

"Okay." The four Pokémon agreed, walking out of the Lab.

 _In the Pokémon Center_

"Hello." The pink haired nurse greeted the five group members as they entered the Pokémon Center. "How can I help you?"

"These two need to get a little rest for the gym battle." Shade said, indicating Psy and Pyro.

"They don't seem to be hurt." The Nurse, whose name just so happened to be Joy, said, looking over the two Pokémon.

"They just need to rest." Shade said. "Do you have a room we can use?"

"No." Joy said, shaking her head. "We don't have any available rooms for simple rest. But we can just give them a Simple Rejuvenation."

"What's that like?" Psy asked.

"In case you asked what that was" Joy said to Psy (most people can't understand Pokémon, remember). "Simple Rejuvenation is a quick and painless process where we rapidly heal minor injuries and fatigue."

"Cool." Pyro said (though, to Joy it sounded like "Ee ee vee eev" –I won't do that very often, due to the fact that it is complicated and a waste of space— it's for short points).

"You know what" Joy said, snapping her fingers. "Instead of just assuming you're saying what I think you're saying, why don't I just show you?"

The two "patients" nodded in agreement. Joy called into the back room of the Center for Chansey. Chansey (who was a Chansey— no shocker there) walked out of the back room and shot a strange looking, pink colored beam at Pyro and Psy. The beam didn't hurt them, but instead it healed them, restoring their energy.

When Chansey had finished rejuvenating the two Pokémon, she bowed at them, shaking their hands before walking into the back room to finish what she'd been doing before she was called.

"Thanks." Shade, Psy, and Pyro said (though Joy could only understand Shade).

"Well, I'll maybe see you later after your Gym challenge." Joy said, waving to the five beings as they left her Center.

 _In front of the New Tao City Gym_

"Well" Shade said, taking in a deep breath as she looked at the gym. "We're here."

The Gym itself looked like a simple building, like a small school. Shade and her friends walked into the gym, ready to take on Korra, the Gym Leader.

 _Inside the gym_

"Man, I'm so bored!" she whined, the Gym aides (those trainers that are in gyms in main canon games) groaning at her plight.

"Korra." One of them said. "We don't care. You need to stop complaining and get to work."

"Fine." Korra said, looking out the window. "It seems as though there's a trainer ready to accept my challenge now."

 _In the gym battling arena_

"Hello" the attendant said pleasantly, showing Shade and her friends to the gym's arena. "Please wait here until Korra is ready to challenge you."

"Okay." Shade said, her Pokémon waiting next to her.

"Ace" Shadow said to her best friend. "Where did you get those drinks?"

"The machine out front." Ace said, having had a few soft drinks with him. "They have them really cheap."

"Why did you get all those drinks?" Shade asked her Ghostly friend.

"I was thirsty." Ace said. "You guys can have some if you want."

"We're good." Psy and Pyro said, not needing anything slowing them down for their fight.

"How did you carry those with those arms?" Shadow asked, confused.

"I'm a master of the shadows." Ace said, chuckling.

"So" Shade said, making a mental list. "What four moves do you guys know? Just so I can think of a quick strategy."

"Four moves?" Ace asked. "What the hell told you Pokémon were only confined to four moves?"

"The Pokédex." Shade said.

"That's bullsh!t." Ace said. "It only tells you a Pokémon's most recent moves. They can use any moves they've learned since birth. It's just a Pokémon usually has four or five moves they're really adept at and they use those."

"Oh." Shade said, understanding. "That makes snense."

"I'm here, let's do this." A girl said as she stepped out of the Gym Leader's quarters.

The girl was dressed in a grey shirt with black pants. She had grey shoes that had white laces. They had wings on the side as a logo or emblem. Her hair was brown, as were her eyes. She had a tattoo on her arm that resembled a birdcage.

"You must be Korra." Shade said to the Gym leader.

"That I am." Korra said, flipping her hair. "Now, let's get this going. But first, why does your Gengar have seven orange sodas with him?"

"He's thirsty." Shade said. "And some of those are for the rest of us."

"Whatever." Korra said, pulling a Pokéball off of her belt and throwing it on the ground, a small white bird Pokémon with an orange head, a Fletchling, popping out of it. "Let's do this."

"Yes." Shade said, Pyro moving up into place to fight the first Pokémon Korra sent out.

"Now, listen up." The referee on the side of the arena said in a loud voice. "This is a two on two match between challenger Shade and Gym leader Korra. The battle is over when both members of a trainer's team are unable to battle."

"Sounds good to me." Shade said, Pyro getting into a battle stance.

"You're going down, Eevee." The Fletchling said, glaring at Pyro.

"Bring it on, Tweety Bird." Pyro said, grinning a toothy grin.

"It seems that they're taunting each other." Korra said. Shade, Ace, Psy, and Shadow giggled (Ace chuckled), knowing exactly was being said.

"Let it begin." The Fletchling said, charging at Pyro, his wings glowing with Flying type energy.

The Fletchling hit Pyro with a Wing Attack, knocking her onto the ground.

Shade bit her bottom lip when she saw her best friend down for the count.

"It looks like you have the wrong Pokémon." Ace said, his tone normal.

"how dare you?!" Shade shouted at Ace. Even Shadow didn't expect what was happening.

"She's my best friend!" Shade shouted at the Gengar. "I won't let you insult her like that!"

"I just think that you should have gone with a stronger—" Ace said just before his tone changed abruptly. "Do it now, Pyro!"

Pyro jumped up and charged at the Fletchling, who tried to use another Wing Attack.

Pyro dodged the blow and swung her brown and white tail at the Fletchling.

"A Tail Whip won't do any good against me." The Fletchling said as he saw what Pyro was doing. "My ability, Homeostasis (this is a new ability—I made original abilities and moves for this fic, so expect that), prevents my stats from being lowered."

"Oh, this isn't a Tail Whip." Pyro said, her tone low and threatening.

"What do you mean?" the Fletchling asked, confused. His answer came in the form of Pyro's tail slamming into him, knocking him into the wall behind Korra.

"It's an Iron Tail." Pyro said, turning around and walking back to Shade, Psy moving up to take her place.

"You tricked us all with that one." Shade said, chuckling at her newest friend. "Well played."

"How much did you train them?" Shade asked Ace and Shadow.

"Enough." Ace said, grinning as he began to drink another soda. "Now, it's time to see if Shadow's pupil can beat her opponent."

"Are you sure you're a rookie trainer?" Korra asked Shade.

"I just started my journey yesterday." Shade said.

"Well, you have some skill." Korra said. "But can you beat my second Pokémon, Pidgeotto?"

"Pidgeotto?" Ace asked. "Isn't that a little too powerful for rookie trainers?"

"I think so." Shadow said. "But, it might be a little weaker for that very reason."

"Hmm." Shade said, thinking. "This might be a challenge."

Korra's Pokéball opened to reveal a large golden brown colored bird with long, red, yellow, and black feathers behind its head that resembled hair flew out of it.

"Pidgeotto, use Gust." Korra said, her Pidgeotto obeying. She flapped her wings, a huge amount of wind rushing from them. Psy strained against the wind, the Gust threatening to blow her smaller body into the wall.

"Psy" Shade said. "Use Psychic to throw off the Pidgeotto."

"Thanks for the advice." Psy said, focusing her Psychic power onto the Pidgeotto, trying to stop its attack.

"That won't work on me!" the Pidgeotto shouted, trying to flap harder.

"Then maybe this will." Psy said, intensifying her energy output. The Pidgeotto was grabbed by Psy's Psychic power and slammed on the ground, knocking her out.

Ace spit out the drink he was drinking as Shade, Korra and Pyro's jaws dropped to the floor. Shadow's expression was one of minor smugness.

"How do you like that?" she asked Ace, playfully elbowing him.

"Holy sh!t!" Ace said. "That's impressive. What did you teach her?"

"Well" Korra said, walking over to Shade. "It seems that you've beaten me."

"I guess so." Shade said. "But I couldn't have done it without Pyro and Psy."

"Well, you deserve the Arial Badge." Korra said, handing what looked like pilot wings to Shade.

"I think you deserve this one." Shade said, handing it to Psy.

"Well, I'm going to get some sleep." Korra said, reentering her quarters. "I'm sure you can find your own way out."

"You did a good job, Pyro" Shade said, scratching Pyro behind her ears. "You too Psy."

Shade rubbed Psy's head affectionately, causing Psy to warm up slightly. Then something strange happened to her.

Psy suddenly began trembling as her body began to glow. Shade and the others began to stare, knowing that this signified evolution.

But as suddenly as the light shone, it died down, revealing an exhausted Psy.

"What happened?" Shade asked, running over to her best friend.

"Hmm." Ace said, thinking over something.

"Something on your mind?" Shadow asked her best friend.

"Yeah." Ace said. "I'll tell you later."

"Psy, are you okay?" Shade asked the young Ralts.

"I—I don't know." Psy said. "I felt like I was evolving, but then it stopped."

"We need to get that checked out." Shade said.

"We should do it later." Ace said. "She probably backed out of it unconsciously."

"What do you mean?" Shade asked.

"Sometimes a Pokémon can forcibly stop its own evolution." Shadow explained. "But some do it unconsciously."

"Is that what happened to me?" Psy asked in her quiet voice.

"Well—" Shadow started to say before Ace put a hand over her mouth.

"Possibly." He said. "It's the most likely answer, but if it happens again, we'll get a Psychic type to look at you."

"Okay." Psy said. "I guess it's no big deal right now."

"Now." Shade said, crouching into a ball while still standing up.

"LET'S GO SHOPPING!" she shouted, jumping up and down.

"You still want to go shopping?" Ace asked, groaning.

"Yeah." Shade said. "I told you I need supplies for our journey."

"Whatever." Ace said, realizing he wasn't going to win this argument. "Just go."

"Yay!" Shade shouted.

 _New Tao City Shopping Mall- outside_

"How long do you plan on being in there?" Ace asked, clearly not wanting to enter the shopping mall.

"We're not going to be in there long." Shade said, taking Shadow's hand. "I'm just going to get Pokéballs, Potions, Antidotes, and some other supplies."

"By the way" Shade said, pulling some poké and handing it to Ace. "Here's two thousand poke in case you want to get something to eat. We might be in there a while."

Ace and Pyro groaned while Psy just sighed.

"Don't worry." Shadow said to Ace, Pyro, and Psy. "I'll make sure she doesn't take long."

"Come on, Shadow." Shade said, practically dragging the Clefable girl into the store. "I've got some supplies I want to buy and I need some company."

"I'm beginning to regret my decision to go with you." Shadow said as she was dragged into the store.

"Good luck, Shadow." Pyro said, her and Ace laughing while Psy giggled. "You're gonna need it."

"You guys are assholes!" Shadow called out jokingly before the doors to the mall shut out the sound of her voice.

"So" Psy said as she realized the three of them would have a lot of free time on their hands. "what should we do?"

"I was thinking of reading my favorite fanfiction." Ace said. "Do you guys still have fanfiction here? It's been a while since I looked."

"Where have you been for the past few millennia?" Pyro said, scoffing at the Gengar. "Travelling through time?! Of course we still have fanfiction."

"Sweet." Ace said, pumping his fist. "After the amount of time it's been since I read a fanfiction, I think it's updated. That third movie's taking forever to come out."

"If you're referring to the one I think you're referring to" Psy said, her tone sympathetic. "I think you'll be disappointed."

"Why?" Ace said.

"Here's why." Psy said, pulling out a pocket computer. It powered up and she went to the right website.

"There's a new entry here." Ace said, taking the pocket computer from the young Ralts. He clicked on the new entry to show two words on an almost blank page.

"Chuck Norris." Ace read aloud, soon after beginning to laugh. "Well played, sir. Well played." (If you get that reference in the previous eight paragraphs, it was in response to a review I received in Azure Light—also, I just had to put it here— it went better here than Team Lunar Fire— and also kudos to you for getting it)

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna snooze." Pyro said, laying down on a bench. Ace got up next to her and also lay down to go to sleep.

"Are you sure we should sleep here?" Psy asked cautiously. "What if someone tries to catch us?"

"It'll be fine." Ace said. "I can sense people's auras. If anyone's near us, I'll know."

"Okay." Psy said, getting up with her best friend and her newest friend. "I guess we could sleep for a minute."

Psy lay down and in less than a minute she was fast asleep. Soon both she and Ace were having a dream.

 _In Psy's dream (note that all Pokémon and people dream of themselves as humans instead of as Pokémon—the reason for this will be explained later)_

She walked down the hallway, one hand clutching her chest lightly in fear so as to attempt to slow her racing heart's beating. The thing that was chasing her had cornered her once before, but she wouldn't let it manage it again.

She ran by a reflective surface and glanced at herself, something she'd never really done before, slowing down as she did so. She appeared to be almost five feet tall. She noticed that she was wearing a white pair of pants as well as white shoes. Her shirt was white. She wore no gloves, so her fair skin was showing. She had shorter green hair that went down and covered her eyes with two little red horns sticking up like bunny ears. With the speed she was going, her hair blew out of her face, allowing her to see that her eyes were red with a small amount of black mixed in. Her face looked kind and gentle.

She quickly quickened her pace. Now was not the time to look at herself in this distorted hallway. She had to evade her pursuer first.

She ran as fast as she could, stealing glances behind her to see if what was chasing her was still chasing her, but she couldn't see it. She started to slow down, catching her breath as she scanned the room with her psychic powers. Finding nothing, she stopped completely, dropping to a knee from near exhaustion. Sweat began to bead on her forehead, her breathing heavy.

But, she still couldn't rest. The thing that had been chasing her materialized from the shadows, its appearance Dark and terrifying. She backed up, not rising from the floor, as the creature moved closer, one eye glowing blue as she stared at it, absolute fear in her eyes as they constricted and vibrated similar to an anime. Her mouth was agape as the fear came from her mouth in short, shallow breaths.

The creature stared at her, its blue eye piercing into her soul. It chuckled, impaling her with one of its clawed hands.

 _The real world_

Psy woke up with a jolt, her body drenched in sweat. Pyro had woken up and was standing over her, nudging her with her nose.

"Pyro" Psy said, hugging her best friend. "I had the most terrifying nightmare."

"It can't be as bad as the one Ace is having." Pyro said, pointing her head in the direction of the Gengar.

Ace was trembling in his sleep, muttering something about a girl or something the two young Pokémon couldn't make out.

"What's he dreaming about?" Psy asked.

"Don't know." Pyro said, shrugging. "Maybe you could help with that."

"What do you mean?" Psy asked.

"Can't you use Dream Eater to see into Ace's dream?" Pyro asked.

"I don't know." Psy said. "If it's enough to scare someone who seems as fearless as Ace, then it must be terrifying."

"We need to help him, though." Pyro said.

"Right." Psy said, taking one of Pyro's paws in her own small hand. She touched her hand to Ace's head, taking her and Pyro into the realm of Ace's dreams.

 _In Ace's dream_

Pyro and Psy found themselves in what looked like a battlefield. There were human bodies littering the ground, each of them mutilated in some way. All of them seemed to have some formidable power, maybe even close to godlike. Every one of the bodies radiated Dark energy, indicating that they were killed by a powerful Dark type.

"Why are we humans?" Pyro asked, looking down at herself. Psy looked like she did in her dream.

Pyro was wearing a brown and white skirt with a brown shirt. She had on brown shoes that had white laces. She had on brown gloves that were fingerless. Her hair was brown and went down to her shoulders. Her eyes were brown and liquid and seemed deep.

Psy actually blushed a little when she saw Pyro's dream form. She hadn't expected her to be this attractive. Not that she was attracted to Pyro, it's just she was unprepared for how stunning her best friend looked.

"What?" Pyro asked, turning to her best friend. "Do I look good or what?"

"Let's focus on why we're here." Psy said.

"By the way" Pyro said, looking down at herself. "Why are we humans?"

"I guess it's because Pokémon used to be humans" Psy said. "Humans were the only creatures and they could turn into a certain Pokémon to power up. I guess today's Pokémon haven't forgotten that."

"Oh." Pyro said. "I guess that makes sense. But I still look like a knockout."

"In more ways than one." Psy said, giggling.

"I know, right?" Pyro said, looking herself over. "Now let's find Ace in this crazy dream."

"Right." Psy said.

The two of them walked around the battlefield, taking note of the battle. Eventually they came upon a strange sight.

They saw a boy a few yards in front of them. He had on a black shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a black jacket. He had on a crimson red scarf. His back was to the two girls, but if they could see they would see that he had black eyes with some blue mixed in. His hair was as black as his clothes. He seemed to be kneeling over something.

"Is that Ace?" Pyro whispered.

"I guess." Psy whispered back. "But I can't tell. Let's just quietly watch for a while until we know for sure."

"Okay." Pyro whispered. "But it seems like something is happening."

The boy began saying something that the girls could just make out.

 _With the being_

"I'm sorry." He said to the body of the female that he hugged to his chest. She was wearing a green shirt under a white jacket. She had white pants on with white boots. She had a locket shaped like a rose petal around her neck. Her hair was as black as his. Her eyes, which were closed, but he knew what color they were, were a liquid black and had red mixed into them. Her face seemed to radiate her grace and beauty. She lay lifelessly in his arms.

"It's all my fault" he said again. "I caused this."

" **You see."** Said a dark and sinister voice from beside him. **"This is the result of your power. This is your fault. Every last bit of it."**

"What do you want?" he said to the second voice, his tone turning to anger.

" **To tell you Ace."** The second voice said, materializing next to him. **"Exactly what your power will do to those around you."**

The owner of the second voice looked just like him, save for the fact that his hair was white and his eyes were red.

"I won't become you." Ace (the first boy) said, standing up and facing the owner of the second voice. "I won't give in to you."

" **You fool."** The voice said, stepping nearer to Ace. **"You're already more like me than you realize. I am the Joker to your Batman. I am the yin to your yang. I am the Darkness to your— um— not so Darkness."**

"You're a heartless killer." Ace said, his tone getting angrier.

" **Don't forget"** the second voice said. **"You've killed your fair share of people as well. Remember your clone and Shadow's? Maxie, Archie, and Cyrus? Zygarde? All of these you've killed in your recent days."**

"I did what I had to." Ace said. "For her sake."

" **Well, she's gone now."** The second voice said. **"But let's not forget your biggest kill."**

The owner of the second voice leaned closer to Ace, whispering in his ear. Psy could hear with her psychic powers and allowed Pyro to listen in.

" **You killed Lugia."** The owner of the second voice said, his tone sinister, like a villain who's beaten his hero.

"SHUT THE F #$ UP!" Ace shouted, his voice a mixture of anger and sadness as he backhanded the second voice with his fist. "Don't you DARE try to use that against me!"

The owner of the second voice landed a ways away, sitting up to see Ace walking towards him, his aura Dark and angry.

"You want me to become like you?" Ace said, his skin turning pure black and his hair turning white. It moved similar to a fire, as did his body. His scarf became like a crimson fire as well. His eyes grew larger and turned blood red, their posture representing anger.

" _ **Fine!"**_ he shouted, pure Dark energy appearing in his hands. _**"I'll become like you!"**_

He picked up the second voice and began punching him repeatedly. Psy and Pyro looked on, horrified at how Ace was acting. They'd never expected it from him, despite knowing him for such a short time.

Ace picked up the second voice by the neck. The second voice looked at him, a strange smile on his bloody, broken face.

" **You've done well."** He said, chuckling. **"But you and I both know this won't erase the past."**

" _ **shut up, Nightmare!"**_ Ace shouted. _**"I've taken enough of your sh!t! I am not your puppet! This is my mind! You have no control here!"**_

" **Fool."** Nightmare said, laughing. **"You can't get rid of me! But, because you played the game well, I'll show you what's happening to your girlfriend right now. But don't hate me. I'm just the messenger."**

" _ **What do you mean?"**_ Ace asked, both angry and confused at the same time.

" **This."** Nightmare said, touching Ace's forehead with his hand.

Ace saw flashing visions. All of them were of Shadow. She was in pain, being tortured. He could feel her pain, see what she saw. He cried out, both in pain and sadness for what was happening to his best friend, his oldest friend. Tears streamed down his face as his body shifted back to what it was before. He released Nightmare, who knelt down beside him.

" **We'll continue this conversation later."** He said, walking past Ace. **"Right now, I think your main concern would be saving your girlfriend. And by the way, your other friend's in the same boat. I saw her, but your girlfriend's stronger than that."**

Ace didn't say anything. He was still in shock from seeing her in her condition.

" **Oh"** Nightmare said, turning and facing Ace. **"If you're wondering how I saw what was happening to her, I used your link."**

Ace just sat there. After about five seconds he stood up. He looked at Pyro and Psy, who had been quietly watching him the entire time.

"So." He said, wiping his eyes, his tone returning to its normal pitch and emotion. "What do you think of my dream realm?"

"It looks like a battlefield." Pyro said, looking at the surroundings.

"That's because it's a nightmare." Ace said. "I'd change it, but we've got more pressing matters to attend to."

"What do you mean 'change it'?" Psy asked.

"It's my mind." Ace explained. "I have total control over it."

"So" Pyro asked. "What's this pressing matter?"

"I think our friends are in trouble." Ace said. "If my inner demons are telling the truth."

"Inner demons?" Psy asked.

"I'll tell you later." Ace said. "It's a long story. I saw them being tortured and I won't stand for that."

"So, what are we gonna do about it?" Pyro asked.

"Let's leave my dream realm." Ace said. "It would be more practical to talk out there."

"Okay." Psy and Pyro said. Ace touched their foreheads and a bright light flashed in front of their eyes.

 _In the real world_

"So, where are Shade and Shadow?" Psy asked, the three of them back to looking like Pokémon.

"I don't know." Ace said. "But let me do something first."

Ace snapped his fingers and his forme changed into what he looked like in his dream.

"Why'd you do that?" Pyro asked.

"We would be less conspicuous." Ace said. "If we went looking for them like we were before, we'd be prime targets for trainers and certain perverts. Besides, this forme is more powerful than the Gengar forme."

"What do you mean?" Psy asked. "Wouldn't a Pokémon be stronger than a human?"

"That Gengar forme was just an illusion." Ace said. "I used my Dark powers to create it. That's not even my real pokéforme."

"Pokéforme?" Psy and Pyro asked.

"I have a pokéforme I can enter." Ace said. "That makes me even more powerful, but I can't use it very often because it hurts those around me."

"That's terrible." Psy said.

"It's fine." Ace said. "It's not very often that I have to use it."

"So, where are Shadow and Shade?" Pyro asked. "We need to find them. If they're in the condition you say they're in, we need to find them fast."

"The first place we should look" Ace said. "Is in the store. That would be ideal. Though, it's been about five hours since they entered. Damn dream time difference."

"Right." The two young Pokémon said, walking beside Ace.

"Oh, I just realized something." Ace said. "If anyone asks, you guys are my Pokémon and I'm a rookie trainer preparing for the first gym."

"Why?" Psy asked.

"It would be way too hard to explain to people the story." Ace said. "And we don't want the people that may have taken them to know we're coming for them."

"Right." Pyro said. "Now let's go and find our friends."

The three of them walked into the mall to find their close friends.

 _With Shadow_

She was barely conscious. They had chained her to a wall after she'd lost her illusion and reverted back to human forme. Her body had blood coming from multiple points all over. She was in pain constantly since she'd been brought to her current location. She was too weak to try to break out. If she'd been a little stronger, her chains would have no effect and she could free Shade, who was also undergoing similar things. But, through all of it, she held faith in the one person that she knew would come for her; the one she always trusted. She only hoped he'd come before it was too late.

A scientist came in with several tools, her eyes widening at the sight. A few seconds later, her screams were heard from outside the door of the cell she was in.

 _With Shade_

She slowly opened her eyes. She found herself chained to a wall. She could vividly remember some of the things they had done to her since she'd arrived at her location. Most of them involved painfully taking her blood. She hoped Shadow was okay. She'd seen her change from a Clefable into a human girl. That was strange, but she couldn't worry about that right now. She had to find a way to get both herself and Shadow out of this horrible place.

A scientist walked into her cell. He had some tools in his hands and Shade wondered what they were for. Her eyes widened as the conclusion came to her.

"What's wrong?" a voice came from behind the scientist. "Are you scared yet?"

Shade sat up a little straighter. That voice was familiar to her. She'd heard it from somewhere, but where? Her eyes grew even wider as she recognized the source of the voice.

"What's wrong, dear sister?" the owner of the voice said, stepping into view. "Miss me?"

* * *

well, i do believe i'm trying to earn an M rating. Even at this early stage. Well, enjoy and review.


	5. Search and Rescue Part One

Chapter Three: Search and Rescue

 _Previously on In Dark of Night_

 _-"Good luck on your journey, Shade."_

" _Thanks, mom."_

 _-"My name is Ace and this is Shadow."_

" _My name is Shade and these are my partners, Pyro and Psy."_

" _Pleased to meet you."_

 _-"We would like to join you on your journey."_

" _Why?"_

" _You're pure of heart. That's very rare."_

 _-"This is the first gym. The leader is Korra, a Flying type leader._

 _-"It seems that your Pokémon are capable of earning the Arial Badge."_

 _-"Let's go to the mall."_

" _Pass."_

" _I'll go with you, Shade."_

 _-_ _ **"You're just like me. A Dark being."**_

" _I'm nothing like you."_

 _-_ _ **"It would seem that you've got a worse problem than me to deal with: your girlfriend."**_

 _-"Shadow and Shade have been taken."_

" _What are we going to do?"_

" _Get them back."_

 _-"What's wrong? Are you scared yet?"_

 _Shade: *gasp*_

" _What's wrong, dear sister? Did you miss me?"_

 **In Dark of Night Chapter Three: Search and Rescue**

 _With Shade_

"L-L-Luna?!" Shade said, both from pain and weakness as well as from the shock of seeing her older sister standing in front of her, being one of the ones to torture her and take her blood. The other scientist left the two girls alone to talk.

Luna was wearing pink shoes with pink laces. The front of her shirt was yellow and the rest was blue. She had on yellow, blue, and pink pants that matched her shirt. Over that she wore a blue lab coat. She wore pink gloves that were fingerless. Her hair was blond and went down past her shoulders. Her face seemed powerful and strong, but at the same time, dark and more sinister. Her eyes were a light shade of pink, but they flashed a more negatively aligned light.

"What's wrong, Shadey?" Luna said in a mocking voice, kneeling down in front of her chained up sister. "Didn't expect to see me here, doing all these things to you?"

"I thought you were challenging the league." Shade said. "You disappeared six years ago and mom and I thought you had died."

"No, silly." Luna said, stroking Shade's chin. "I was recruited by these guys and I'm helping them with their goals."

"What goals?" Shade asked, struggling to sit up straighter.

"Oh, my dear Shadey." Luna said, leaning in closer to Shade. "Their goals go far above your head. They go far above the head of even the girl that was with you."

"What have you done with Shadow?!" Shade tried to get up the strength to summon her voice to shout at her sister.

"Oh, please." Luna said, chuckling a little. "Even if you were at full strength, you wouldn't be able to stand against me."

"What do you mean?" Shade asked, confused.

"Oh, you'll find out" Luna said, rubbing Shade's head, which Shade moved her head to avoid. "I'll show you firsthand"

 _With Shadow_

"I must admit" The scientist said to his prisoner, who was taking panting from the pain she had been enduring. "you're far more resilient than the others I've "interrogated"."

"You won't get much from me." Shadow said. "I've taken worse pain."

"Well, I'd say so." The scientist said, chuckling to himself. "You didn't even respond to the first five times we took your blood or did anything, and those caused Tyranitar to scream in pain. You are clearly not human."

"I looked like a Clefable earlier." Shadow said. "I'm clearly not human. Or at least what you call human."

"Yes." The scientist said. "You are clearly not. Which is what makes this next part so very interesting."

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked suspiciously.

"This." The scientist said, pulling out a syringe. He injected it into Shadow's arm, causing her to scream in pain.

 _With Ace, Pyro, and Psy_

Ace jolted for a second, causing Pyro and Psy to look at him with confused and worried looks.

"I could feel Shadow." He said, clutching his chest. "She's in pain."

"Then we should hurry" Psy said.

"Let's go." Pyro said, running into the mall. Ace and Psy followed the hyperactive Eevee into the mall.

 _In the mall_

The three friends walked up to the clerk's desk, where the clerk was ignoring them and talking on her phone. Pyro and Psy got up on the desk, waiting for a second.

"Excuse me." Ace said, knocking on the desk. "Can you help us?"

"Hold on, Marcy." The clerk said to her friend on the phone. She turned to Ace with some anger in her eyes.

"Can't you see I'm busy?!" she almost exclaimed.

"I'm looking for someone." Ace said.

"Well, I'm not interested." The clerk said, going back to her phone. Ace grabbed her by her collar.

"This is a matter of life and death." Ace said. "And if you don't help me, it will be your life or death as well."

"Okay, okay, fine." The clerk said, her voice hurried. "What do you want?"

"Have you seen a girl" Ace said, releasing the clerk. "that's about my height in black clothing with a red scarf. She has blue black eyes and black hair and was with a Clefable."

"Oh, I saw someone like that." The clerk said, thinking back. "She walked up to the fourth floor."

"Thanks." Ace said. Pyro and Psy jumped off the desk and followed him up to the elevator. They got in the elevator and rode it to the fourth floor.

When Ace walked out of the elevator, Pyro and Psy right behind him, they noticed that the floor seemed a little trashed.

"What happened here?" Psy asked, looking out over the floor. "It looks like there was a fight."

"I could have trashed this place way better than this." Pyro said, looking over the floor. "Let's look around and see if we can find anything important."

"Right." Ace said. They began to search the floor, looking for anything suspicious.

"I found a guy!" Pyro said, staring angrily at something. Ace and Psy walked over to what Pyro was looking at to find a man huddling back in the corner, hiding. When he saw Ace, he tried to get further back in the corner.

"Wait." Ace said, holding out his hand. "I need to ask you some questions?"

"Are you a detective?" the man asked.

"No." Ace said. "But I'm acting like one right now."

"Wh-what do you want to know?" he man asked.

"I'm looking for a girl." Ace said. "She's about my height and wearing black pants, a black shirt, and a black jacket. She also has a red scarf and has black hair and blue black eyes, and was with a Clefable. Have you seen her?"

The man's eyes widened as he remembered the exact person that Ace was talking about.

"Sh-she was taken" he said, causing Ace, Pyro, and Psy's eyes to widen. "Her and the Clefable."

"By who?" Ace said, grabbing the man by his collar and causing him to shake.

"r-r-raZe Corp" the man said. "They're the ones that did it."

"raZe Corp?" Ace asked, confused. "That company that practically owns and makes everything?"

"Yes." The man said. "Three thugs came and kidnapped both the girl and the Clefable. I could tell they were from raZe Corp because of the Z on their chests."

"What would they want with Shade and Shadow?" Psy asked.

"That's a good question." Ace said, thinking.

"You can understand her?" the man asked.

"Yeah." Ace said. "Why?"

"They lock people up for saying they can understand Pokémon." The man explained. "raZe Corp doesn't seem to like the idea of people talking to Pokémon. I don't know why, but you better be careful. Some of those thugs might still be around here."

"I'm counting on it." Ace said, walking back to the elevator. "Thanks for the help."

"Welcome." The man said.

 _Mall—bottom floor_

"So what are we gonna do if we see one of the thugs?" Psy asked.

"We're gonna kick their asses." Pyro said.

"What will that solve?" Psy asked her best friend.

"It will get me answers." Ace said.

"Look." Psy said, pointing outside of the mall. "There's one of them now."

Outside were two men dressed in blue suits that had large Zs on them. They were scoping out the area, seemingly for peacekeeping.

Ace walked up to them, trying to hide the fact that they made him angry, though his reason was unknown even to him.

"Hello there." He said pleasantly. "Can I ask you two some questions?"

"Go away kid." They said to Ace, waving their hands.

"I'm twenty." Ace said, ignoring them. "Now, I'd like my questions answered."

"Whatever." They said simultaneously, bored at this point.

"I'm looking for a girl." Ace said.

"Take your relationship problems somewhere else, kid." One of the thugs said.

"See" Ace said, a smirk appearing on his face. "This girl is about my height and is wearing black with a red scarf. She had blue black eyes and black hair. She was with a Clefable."

"What does this have to do with us?" the thug on the left said.

"Someone told me that you guys took them somewhere." Ace said, knowing he had them. "I'd like to know where."

The thugs didn't respond. Instead the one on the right took out a Pokéball and threw it on the ground.

Out of the Pokéball appeared a large Pokémon that was as tall as Ace. She (it was a female) had a blue lower half with pink stripes running down her body just inside of her legs. Her legs, which weren't much of legs, had no feet. It appeared as though they were ripped off, leaving a jagged place on the Pokémon's legs. A thick, blue tail with a pink stripe on the underside and a black tip extended out from behind the large Pokémon. The upper half of her body was mostly covered in black fur. Instead of hands, she had two blue mouths with black eyes and pink tongues on her thick, black, furry arms. Six black, fur covered tendrils that resembled wings of some sort extended from her back. Her head had pink frills that went around it like a mane, but not quite. Her head was blue and her eyes were red, black surrounding them. Her mouth opened to reveal her few, but still very sharp teeth. She roared, all three of her heads roaring in unison as a sign of power. Her aura (only visible to Ace and Psy) shone both elements of Dark and Dragon.

"Hmm." Ace said, smirking. "A Hydreigon. They used to be bigger when I was growing up."

"I'm not that small!" the Hydreigon shouted angrily, but only Ace, Pyro, and Psy understood her.

"They were at least a foot and a half taller." Ace said. "But, times were a lot different then."

"I'll show you true power!" the Hydreigon roared, Dragonic power exploding off of her.

"Let's not get hasty." Ace said in Pokéspeak (so the Hydreigon, Psy, and Pyro were the only ones to understand him). "I have some questions. If you answer them, I'll leave you guys alone."

"What questions?" the Hydreigon asked.

"Where's the girl and the Clefable?" Ace asked, his tone firm. "I know you guys took them. Now where are they?"

"You know too much." The Hydreigon said, tensing up, ready to unleash her dreaded Dark Meteor (Dark version of Draco Meteor— there are fake attacks in this fic). "You must be destroyed."

"Let me tell you something." Ace said, stepping forward until he was in the Hydreigon's face. "I want some answers and I am going to get them. Now tell me what I want to know or else."

"I'm not afraid of you." The Hydreigon said, backing up a little from Ace, extinguishing the Dark power in her two smaller mouths.

"Oh, please." Ace said, chuckling a little. "You've already used your Dark powers on me to see what I am, haven't you? You already know what I am and what I'm capable of, don't you?"

"Y-y-you, y-you're…" the Hydreigon stuttered, backing away from Ace.

"Get over there and fight, Hydreigon!" the thugs shouted, clearly not having heard the conversation between Ace and the Dark Dragon.

"It's your choice." Ace said, his tone now Dark and threatening.

"Vineberg" the Hydreigon said before backing up behind the two thugs.

"She's useless." The thug on the left said, putting the Dark Dragon back in her Pokéball.

"Let's report to the boss about this guy." The thug on the right said, pulling out a phone. But before he could dial a number, Ace was right in front of the two thugs.

"You two aren't going to be calling anyone." He said, holding up his hand towards them, a Dark orb forming in it. "You're going to have a fitful sleep while you suffer for your actions."

Ace fired the Dark orb at the two thugs, trapping them in a fitful sleep in which they writhed.

"What was that?" Psy asked, shocked at how the guards were behaving.

"Dark Void." Ace said. "It causes horrendous nightmares."

"why would you do that?" Psy asked.

"We don't need them alerting anyone of our presence." Ace said. "Besides, I never learned how to use Hypnosis or Sleep Powder."

"Fair enough." Psy said. "Now, how are we going to find them?"

"They're in Vineberg." Pyro said. "If that Hydreigon was telling the truth."

"She was" Ace assured the young Eevee.

"Then, how are we going to get there?" Psy asked. "It's a pretty long run, much less walk, to Vineberg."

"And you two are unprepared." Ace said. "I'll need to take drastic measures to make sure you two will be able to handle the route to Vineberg and the retrieval of our friends."

"What kind of drastic measures?" Psy asked.

"Let's go to the woods" Ace said. "And I'll show you."

 _With Shade_

"What do you mean 'you'll show me firsthand'?" Shade asked, growing more and more intimidated by her sister by the second.

"I'll show you just what I can do." Luna said, grabbing Shade by her face and stroking her chin. Shade was both confused and somewhat repulsed by her sister's actions.

"What are you doing?" Shade asked.

"I'm just taking you in." Luna said, her tone strange to Shade. It seemed sad and happy at the same time, like someone who has been reunited with someone they haven't seen in a long time. "You're looking very beautiful."

"What?" Shade asked, confused and a little repulsed. "I'm not really into girls. And you're my sister!"

"I haven't seen you in six years, dear sister." Luna said, kissing her sister on the cheek. "When I left, you were just a child. You've matured very nicely."

"Besides" Luna added, a hint of mischief in her voice. "You're not really my type. I prefer less feisty girls. They're so much more submissive."

"Wait, what?" Shade asked, both confused and shocked at what her sister had just said.

"I'm just kidding." Luna said, laughing (sorry Yuri fans). "I've got a major crush on my boss, Danny Davis. He's sooooo hot, it's like a sauna when I'm around him. I've never been into girls or incest. I'm just having fun with my little sister I haven't seen in six years."

"Uh— thanks, I guess." Shade said. "But, this seems like it's not the right time."

"Actually" Luna said, her tone normal again. "It's the perfect time. See, we're going to do unspeakable things to you to bring about your true nature in a few minutes, so I'm going to live up our reunion while I can."

"What?" Shade asked, her eyes widening.

"Don't worry." Luna reassured her sister. "We'll leave your virginity alone, if that's what you're wondering."

"That wasn't it, but thanks." Shade said, horrified. "But you're my sister. Why are you doing this to me?"

"I'm doing my job." Luna said. "No hard feelings. We tried a number of patients before you, but you actually possess the right qualities to succeed in our experiment."

"What experiment?" Shade asked, truly worried at this point.

"See, what's going on here" Luna explained. "Is the scientists (me included) are trying to find humans with Pokémon traits. See, certain humans have traits similar to Pokémon. The most prevalent one is being able to understand Pokémon. Apparently you fit that bill, little sis. It's said that certain humans even have the ability to turn into Pokémon, like your friend a few cells down."

"Leave Shadow out of this." Shade said.

"Sorry" Luna said, wiggling a finger. "She's part of this too. She's farther along than you are."

"What do you mean 'farther along' than I am?" Shade asked, half guessing in her mind what her sister meant.

"You have Pokémon traits." Luna said. "We expect that you could gain the power to transform soon, at which point we'll take your blood and use it to make more powerful pokéhumans."

"You're just using me and Shadow for our blood?" Shade asked.

"RaZe Corp is a very powerful industry." Luna said, chuckling. "They turned me into the warrior I am today."

"Warrior?" Shade asked, confused.

"I learned to control my abilities and harness them to become very powerful." Luna said. "I'm more than human now. And so are you."

"I am?" Shade asked.

"You talk to Pokémon." Luna said. "You know those other people that said they could talk to Pokémon and were locked up? They ended up here, their blood harvested. They fueled our experiments. As will you and your friend."

"You won't get away with this." Shade said.

"Oh, really?" Luna asked. "Who's gonna stop this? Your two Basic Stage (first evolution) Pokémon? The Gengar? Face it, Shadey, you don't have anyone that can help you. You're just our tool, our experiment."

"My friends will come for us." Shade said, her defiance evident.

"We'll see." Luna said, walking over to the door. "I'll just leave you alone for a while. You know, to help you cope with your current situation."

Luna closed and locked the door behind her as Shade started to truly realize the horror of her situation. But before she could think of a way to try to escape, she heard a voice in her head.

" _Shade."_ The voice said. It was small and quiet, its tone sweet and gentle.

"Who's there?" Shade asked, jolting up, thinking she was beginning to lose her sanity.

" _Think, don't speak."_ The voice said softly. _"It's me, Shadow. I'm using telepathy to speak to you."_

" _How are you able to do this?"_ Shade asked in her thoughts. _"I thought you were a Clefable."_

" _I'm no Clefable."_ Shadow said telepathically. _"And Ace is no Gengar. I just wanted to let you know I'm alive and not to worry about me. I'll be fine."_

" _We need to figure out a way to escape."_ Shade thought. _"Do you have enough power to escape?"_

" _No."_ Shadow said. _"When we were captured, I was knocked nearly unconscious. They sealed the power I could use and I can't call on my hidden powers. We'll have to wait for Ace, Pyro, and Psy to save us."_

" _Can they?"_ Shade thought. _"Ace doesn't seem like he's powerful enough to stop whatever's going on here."_

" _Trust me."_ Shadow said. _"Ace is our best hope. He's probably figuring out where we are as we speak."_

" _What if he can't find us?"_ Shade asked, her tone pessimistic.

" _He will."_ Shadow said. _"He's never let me down before and he won't now."_

" _If you say so."_ Shade said, skeptical.

" _I know so."_ Shadow said. _"He'll come for us. If I had any strength I'd get us out of here myself, but they've done something to me that temporarily suppresses my healing factor and my physical and ranged power."_

" _They can do that?"_ Shade asked.

" _It's possible."_ Shadow said. _"They've been doing it since Ace and I were growing up."_

" _So"_ Shade said, figuring out what Shadow was saying. _"You're unable to help us?"_

" _Pretty much."_ Shadow said, her tone a little sad. _"Sorry. But I have full confidence in Ace. I'm sure he's trying to figure out a way to find us as I'm telling you this."_

 _With Ace, Pyro, and Psy— Route 1203 (between New Tao City and Vineberg)_

"So" Pyro asked, confused. "How are we gonna get stronger so we can go rescue Shade and Shadow?"

"That's what I'm going to try." Ace said.

"Try what?" Pyro asked, wondering how she could get stronger in a short amount of time.

"I'm going to evolve the both of you." Ace said.

"How?" Psy asked.

"Pyro" Ace said. "You want to be a Flareon, right?"

"Yeah!" Pyro said, feeling badass.

"Here's a Fire Stone." Ace said, pulling an orange stone with a fire in it. "You can break it in your teeth and evolve. But I must warn you: if you do this, you'll never be able to go back."

"I want to help Shade." Pyro said, taking the stone. She bit down on it, shattering it. A strange power flowed from the stone, enveloping Pyro's body. It became a huge orb that hid her from view (evolution from a stone or "held" object has different visuals from standard evolution).

When the glowing stopped and the orb disappeared, Pyro was a totally different Pokémon. She was three times her previous size, her current size now three feet tall. Her brown skin turned a fiery orange and her fur bristled and waved like in a breeze. Her brown fluffy brown tail turned a fiery yellow and grew longer than she was. The cream colored, fluffy mane around her neck grew fluffier and turned a fiery shade of yellow. Her orange ears grew bristles and turned black on the inside. A plume of fiery yellow fur sprouted between her ears. It moved like a fire itself. Her eyes turned from a brown to a coal black, but more liquid. Her nose became like a tiny coal smudge on her face. Pyro let out a cry of power and grinned evilly as she felt her power surge (or more like blaze in her case) through her body.

"She looks powerful." Psy said, gasping as her best friend had become much more powerful.

"She is." Ace said. "She's at least three times as strong as she was."

"That's amazing." Psy said.

"Yep.' Ace said, smirking. "It's going to be a big—"

Ace was interrupted by the sound of several Murkrow. Pyro, Psy, and Ace looked over to see what the Murkrow were squabbling about.

"What are they crowding around?" Psy asked.

"It looks like an egg." Ace said, taking a close look.

"Are they going to eat it?" Pyro asked.

"No." Ace said, shooting a blast of Dark energy at the Murkrow, who flew away on the impact of the blast. "They're too busy flying away."

Ace walked over to the egg, picking it up.

"It's cold." He said.

"Need me to warm it up?" Pyro asked, taking a deep breath, Fire appearing in her mouth.

"No." Ace said, shaking his head. "It's an Ice type. It shouldn't be warmed up."

"How do you know?" Psy asked.

"All eggs have different characteristics based on their primary (first) type." Ace explained. "Ice type eggs are cold. Fire eggs are warmer. Steel eggs are metallic to the feel. Poison eggs are a bit toxic to the touch. Rock eggs are firmer than normal. And the list goes on."

"So, this one is an Ice type?" Psy asked.

"Yep." Ace said, summoning a bag from the shadows and placing the egg in it. "now let's get to work on evolving you, Psy."

"Okay." Psy said. "But, back in the gym, I felt like I was evolving, but I didn't."

"And I think I know why." Ace said, taking Psy's right arm. He turned it over to reveal a mark on Psy's arm that looked like a mixture of the Greek Alpha and Omega symbols. "This was on your arm, but was hidden until a Dark type (me) interacted and sensed it."

"What is it?" Pyro asked, feeling a sense of fear from the mark.

"It's a holy mark." Ace said. "It's used to seal away powerful demons and the like. If it's used on an individual, then the demon is bound to them. The demon inside of you must be absorbing the energy you use to evolve, thereby preventing you from evolving."

"Can we get it out of her?" Pyro asked.

"I think so." Ace said. "One concern though is why it was sealed into her in the first place."

"We can worry about that later." Psy said urgently. "We have to get Shade and Shadow back from those people and the only way to do that is if we evolve."

"Right." Ace said. "I can remove it, or at least try. But I'm going to tell you that you will feel more pain than you have ever felt and will probably ever feel again."

"I don't care." Psy said firmly. "I want to help our friends."

"I know." Ace said. "But, I figured I should warn you anyway so it's not a surprise."

"Thanks." Psy said. "But I'm going to do this."

"Fine." Ace said, sighing. "Lay down on the ground."

"Why?" Psy asked, not understanding where Ace was going.

"This will be easier then." Ace said.

Psy shrugged as she lay down on the ground, spreading her arms and legs out.

"Pyro" Ace said to the Flareon next to him. "I need you to stand on top of her."

"What?" Pyro asked, confused.

"Just put one leg on each of her limbs." Ace said. "It will keep her from moving."

"Why does she need to be still?" Pyro asked.

"Because" Ace explained. "She'll be in more, unnecessary pain if she jerks around too much."

"Allright." Pyro said, doing as Ace instructed.

Ace snapped his fingers and two strands of shadowy substance wrapped around Psy's right hand, pinning it to the ground.

"This puts the mark in prime position." Ace explained. "Now, there's one thing I need to do, but I need your consent to clear my conscience."

"What is it?" Psy asked, confusion in her red eyes.

"I'm going to have to use my powers to silence you temporarily." Ace said, kneeling down to Psy and Pyro.

"Why?" Psy asked. "Is it going to hurt a lot?"

"Psy" Ace said, hoping to make his point clear. "When I said you'd feel more pain than any other point in your life, I meant it. This will undeniably be the single worst pain you've ever felt."

"Do it." Psy said, assuring Ace that she was ready. Ace sighed, knowing that Psy would do everything she could to save her best friend.

* * *

So, this chapter was much longer, but since making concept art (Which is on Deviantart under this same username btw) unintentionally took up a lot of time, i divided it in half to tide you guys over. The next part is nearly done, however, so just wait for it.


	6. Search and Rescue Part 2

Chapter Four: Search and Rescue Part 2

 _Previously on In Dark of Night:_

 _-"This Gym's gonna be easy."_

 _-"I'm Darkora. I'd like to see your power and test it. To see if you're a worthy trainer."_

 _-"You've earned the Arial Badge"_

 _-"I'm going to the mall."_

 _-"They've been taken."_

 _-"Did you miss me, dear sister?"_

" _L-Luna? Why are you doing this?"_

" _It's my job."_

 _-"I'm going to have to take drastic measures to make sure we can take these guys on."_

" _Such as?"_

" _I'm going to have to evolve you two."_

 _-"Will this hurt?"_

" _It will be more pain than you've ever felt in your whole life."_

Ace used his powers to put shadows around Psy's mouth.

"This will prevent anyone other than us from hearing you." Ace said. "It's linked to both me and Pyro, so you can talk normally to us. The reason I'm doing this is because if someone sees us, it could be counted a Pokémon abuse, even though it won't hurt for very long."

"Understood." Psy said.

Ace knelt down next to her and put his hand in the air. Dark energy began to gather in it, almost making the day around them seem brighter. After about a minute, Ace's hand had taken resemblance to a clawed hand made of pure Darkness. After a little bit more, Ace brought his hand down, slicing Psy's arm. Blood spurted quickly from the wound Ace had made, but it stopped quickly. Ace had purposely aimed away from any major arteries or veins, instead hitting directly on the mark that was on her arm. Ace's Dark power tore through the mark and the skin around it (remember that a Ralts has a very small, petite arm). Psy screamed loud enough to shatter glass from the pain in her arm.

The mark on her arm began to glow as a figure came out of it in a cloud of smoke. He stood solid on the ground, laughing evilly.

He was wearing a black uniform that had fur on the inside. His hair was orange and resembled a Pyroar's mane. His eyes were a yellow color and they seemed sinister. There was a strangely shaped F on his uniform.

"Lysandre" Ace growled.

"You!" Lysandre exclaimed, stepping back. Ace shot the demon with a powerful Dark Blast, creating a hole in his chest.

"To think" Ace said, chuckling. "You were the only member of Team Universal that me and Shadow didn't kill."

Pyro and Psy (who had been freed from the shadows that held her and from Pyro standing on her) just looked on in silent shock. Ace, a killer? And Shadow as well? Ace was a rather mysterious and Dark individual, but killing? That just didn't seem like him.

"Well" Lysandre said, the hole in his chest regenerating. "It's my turn to kill you."

"Not exactly." Ace said. "See, your time's up."

"We'll see." Lysandre said, growling.

Lysandre charged at Ace, who punched him through the stomach, impaling him with his fist. Lysandre coughed up blood as Ace shot a pulse of Dark energy outward from his arm, causing Lysandre to turn into smoke as he exploded. The smoke Lysandre had become enveloped Psy and surrounded her, causing a white light to shine. Psy's body flashed and morphed as the light shone. She stood in a classic powerup pose. When the light stopped, Psy stood, imbued with a newfound power.

Psy had grown to twice her original height, about two feet and eight inches. Her long white "robe" had changed its shape to more like a tutu. Her legs underneath were revealed to be green and now made up about half her height. They were slender and graceful, seeming to be designed to dance. Her arms grew a little thicker at the forearms, her hands showing division between her fingers, of which she had three (two main fingers and a thumb). Her mouth had gotten a little bigger (which was expected considering her body got bigger as well). The back and sides of her hair changed from a bowl cut to a longer, flowing style that went past her shoulders. The front of her hair curled forward, moving over the entire center of her face in a v shape. Part of it was black at the bottom. Her eyes were now revealed and fully visible, the point of the front of her hair almost giving them an angry shape (but you could tell what emotion she was actually showing by the shape of her mouth). Their color was a more blazing red than before, signifying the fact that she now had a lot more power than before. Her overall appearance seemed like that of a dancer, showing her as even more graceful and gentle.

Now it was Pyro's turn to gasp. Psy's power gently moved outward from herself, seeming gentle, but at the same time strong and courageous.

"Sh-she's so powerful." Pyro said, looking at her best friend.

"You ain't seen nothin' yet" Ace said, chuckling. "Wait until she enters her final form of evolution. There's pretty much nothing more powerful than a Gardevoir that's short of a legendary."

"Awesome!" Pyro said.

Psy twirled around, stepping closer to Ace and Pyro.

"How do I look?" she asked in a mock seductive voice.

"You look fine." Ace said, ignoring her tone. "Now take my hand. I'm going to try to warp us to Vineberg."

"Allright then." Psy and Pyro said, each of them taking one of Ace's hands (Pyro jumped and Ace held her in his arm).

"All right." Ace said. "Hold tight."

Ace used his Dark powers to open a portal that sucked the three of them in. Pyro and Psy closed their eyes, thinking there would be a force yanking them toward their destination, but when they opened them, they were already there.

 _With Shade (and Shadow)_

" _I can feel them."_ Shadow thought to Shade, both of the girls sharing their secret conversation. _"They're close by."_

" _Are you sure?"_ Shade asked.

" _I'm completely sure."_ Shadow said. _"Ace wouldn't let me down. He's probably trying to find the right building."_

" _Couldn't you tell him what building we're in?"_ Shade asked.

" _Two problems with that"_ Shadow said. _"The first is that I don't even know what building we're in. The second is that I can't extend my Psychic powers past where you are for fear of someone figuring out I can use them."_

" _That seems like a problem."_ Shade said. _"Well, I guess we're just reduced to waiting."_

" _Pretty much."_ Shadow said. _"But I have full confidence in them."_

"I'm back, Shadey." Luna said, walking in the door, almost stopping Shadow mid-sentence. "How was your wonderful conversation?"

"H-how did you know about that?" Shade asked, horrified that her sister knew she had been secretly conversing with her friend.

"I have Psychic powers too." Luna said, giggling. "Your friend's too weak to conceal her telepathy. Also, these walls aren't soundproof."

"How much did you hear?" Shade asked.

"All of it." Luna said, laughing. "It made me laugh how she puts all her faith in one person like that as if he's some kind of superhero."

" _You'd be surprised at what Ace is capable of."_ Shadow said in Shade's thoughts (which Luna picked up).

"I have power on the level of legendaries." Luna said, laughing. "Your friend will meet his end if he even tries to fight me."

" _The legendaries have become weak over the centuries."_ Shadow said. _"You'd be surprised just how powerful beings in the past were."_

"If you're any proof" Luna said. "then I'm not worried."

" _I'm weakened by my restraints."_ Shadow said. _"Ace is at full strength and very pissed off at your group. You're going to be in for a fight."_

"We'll see." Luna said. "I'm no pushover."

" _Neither is Ace."_ Shadow said. _"Prepare for a fight."_

 _Vineberg_

"So this is Vineberg." Ace said. "Too boring. We need to find our friends, beat the gym and get out."

"What's the gym?" Psy asked.

"Grass." Ace said. "But most of the leader's Pokémon are part Poison, so you both have an advantage."

"Cool." Pyro said, spitting out a small flame. "We're gonna make short work of this Gym."

"Remember why we're here in the first place." Ace said. "To find our friends."

"If we need to find them fast" Psy asked as the three of them walked, looking for a building that their friends might be. "Then why did you take time to evolve us?"

"Because you two would have been in serious danger if I hadn't done that." Ace said. "Now, let's look for a building that would seem like a raZe Corp hideout."

"That one looks like one." Psy said, pointing to a building labeled 'raZe Arcade'.

"That's almost too obvious." Ace said as they walked inside the arcade.

"Let's take a look around." Ace said. "Stick together because I don't know the policy about unattended Pokémon and I don't want either of you in any kind of danger."

"Right." Psy and Pyro said, the three of them looking around for anything suspicious.

"Check out that poster." Psy said, pointing over to a poster on the far wall.

"It says 'there's nothing behind this poster. Don't push the button behind this poster.'." Ace read. "Oh my Arceo, this is so f #$ing stupid."

"I saw something similar in a manga." Pyro said.

"I read that." Ace said. "I preferred the version of Red that was dark and badass, not the sh!tty version we now call Ash Ketchum."

"Well, Ash Ketchum actually existed." Pyro said. "He lived about a hundred years ago. I remember reading a report about him and his two friends, May and Brock talking about a meeting they had with this group of girls that called themselves 'Team Lunar Fire'. The way he described a couple of them kind of reminds me of you and Shadow."

"Two problems wrong with that." Ace said. "The first is that I'm twenty as is Shadow. The girls in that were thirteen. Second, this is the first time Shadow and I have travelled through time. Third, I'm a guy. Always have been, always will be. They could be another group from a time near ours, but I don't know. I highly doubt I know them. I've only met one other of my species and none of Shadow's. My sister is somewhere in this time, however. She might know. They might be from somewhere in my future, going by what they said. I don't think I'd know them, seeing as Shadow and I've never had kids or met other members of our species, barring my sister."

"Back to the matter at hand." Psy said, pointing to the poster again. "Should we push it?"

"Let's do it." Ace said, ripping off the poster ad pushing the button behind it. "I've always been the rule breaking type."

When Ace had pushed the button, a set of stairs appeared out of nowhere in the floor of the arcade. Looking around, Ace, Pyro, and Psy stepped down them, summoning energy to be ready to confront whatever awaited them in the hideout of raZe Corp.

 _Inside raZe Corp hideout— security room_

"Sir" the security guard said to his partner. "We have a situation."

"What is it?" his partner asked, running over to him.

"This guy and these two Pokémon have entered the hideout." The guard said.

"Deploy the troops." His partner said. "Let's give them a warm welcome."

 _With Ace, Pyro, and Psy_

The three of them walked deeper into the raZe Corp building, looking around for both enemies and the locations of Shade and Shadow.

"Where do you think they are?" Pyro asked.

"Just keep an eye out." Ace said. "There might be a secret door or something."

"On it." Pyro said.

"Halt!" a female voice came from up ahead. The three friends looked up to see a woman and two Pokémon, a Druddigon and a Flygon, the woman standing in the middle.

"You are trespassing." The woman said, clenching her fists.

"We're here for our friends." Ace growled. "And if you don't, I'll put you through a worse hell then you'll experience in the Distortion World."

"Your threats don't affect me, boy." The woman said.

"It wasn't a threat." Ace said, moving right in front of the woman with speed unnoticed.

The woman's two Pokémon stepped closer to Ace, prepared to attack him, when a powerful Moonblast from Psy onto the Druddigon and a Fire Fang from Pyro onto the Flygon caused them to turn their attention to their attackers.

 _With Psy and the Druddigon_

The Druddigon shot a Flamethrower at Psy, but the newly evolved Kirlia was faster and leapt over the wall of Fire and threw a Pixie Punch (a Punch attack infused with Fairy type essence) that hit the Druddigon right on his nose. The Druddigon howled in pain from the Super Effective attack as Psy landed a close up Moonblast on his gut, knocking him out.

 _With Pyro and the Flygon_

The Flygon shot a Dragon Pulse at Pyro, who dodged and sank her flame coated teeth into her opponent's neck. The Flygon shook her head wildly, trying to release Pyro, but all she did was cause Pyro to bite harder, hurting her (the Flygon) even more. When Pyro finally did release, the Flygon was burned, bleeding, and had whiplash. She used her manipulative powers over the Ground (Flygon is part Ground type, which can utilize the Ground in various ways) to apply some of the steel floor to her injured neck, making both a collar and a makeshift bandage of sorts.

"I'll bet that hurts, doesn't it?" Pyro asked, her voice low. "Well, let me ease your pain."

Pyro shot a Flamethrower twice as big as she was out of her mouth, engulfing the Flygon and knocking her out.

 _With Ace_

"You don't scare me." The woman said, her confidence unwavering.

"Well, then" Ace said, his voice one of quiet anger as his eyes turned red. "Let me fix that."

Ace held up his hand and snapped his fingers, causing a black orb to rise from the ground. The woman stared at it before she realized what it was. The Dark Void attack (that's what it was) hit her, causing her to sink into an unrelenting nightmare.

Pyro and Psy walked up to him just as he had finished with his "opponent". They looked at her, then at Ace.

" _He's oddly calm for someone who's best friend was kidnapped."_ Psy said in a telepathic conversation with Pyro.

"Oh, I'm thoroughly pissed off." Ace said. Psy's eyes grew wide as she realized that Ace had heard her. "I'm just keeping my emotions in check so I don't unintentionally give you two horrifying nightmares."

"How did you hear that?" Psy exclaimed, shocked.

"My best friend is a Psychic type." Ace said. "You can't be best friends with a Psychic type for just over twenty years without picking up some skills."

"So" Pyro said. "You can read our minds?"

"I prefer not to." Ace said. "But, sometimes, I can. We need to keep close contact for now and Psychic powers just might be what we need in case we get separated."

"Right." Pyro and Psy said.

"Good." Ace said. "Now let's go. I think I can sense Shadow nearby."

The three of them walked down the hall until the walls began to be lined with what resembled small jail cells. Ace stopped at a random one and ripped its door off its hinges. Psy and Pyro looked inside to see the same white clothed girl from Ace's dream sitting on the floor. She had several cuts and bruises as well as other marks. She was sitting on the floor, chained to the wall, staring out into space, her eyes glossy.

Psy noticed that it wasn't the look of one who was dejected, but one who is concentrating, as if using Psychic powers. However, Psy realized that if she was using Psychic powers, they were on a level far above her own.

"Shadow." Ace said. Pyro and Psy noticed that his voice now carried shock, sadness, and sympathy.

The girl (Shadow) blinked a few times, looking around for a second before her eyes fell on Ace. There was a clear, distinct change in the tone of her eyes, from glazed over in concentration to vibrant and joyful.

Ace shot the chains restraining her as he walked over to her, extending his hand toward her. She gingerly took it and Ace gently helped her up, the two of them staring into each other's eyes.

After about ten seconds Shadow fell forward into Ace's chest as he wrapped his arms around her.

"I knew you'd come." She said.

"So did I." Ace said. "What happened to you?"

"They took my blood on several occasions." Shadow said.

"How come you didn't break out earlier?" Ace asked. "You're just as strong as I am."

"They knocked me unconscious in my Clefable forme." Shadow said. "I couldn't gather enough power to escape before they used those power limiting cuffs on me, keeping me from gathering any more power with which to break out."

"That's bad." Ace said. "Well, at least you're safe now."

"Right" Shadow said, snuggling close to Ace's chest.

"We need to find Shade." Psy said.

"Right." Ace said. Shadow stood up fully, her power restored. She stretched, relieving any tension she had in her muscles.

"Let's go." She said. "I'm going to give Shade's sister a piece of my mind."

"Shade's sister?" Pyro asked. "You mean Luna?"

"Yeah, her." Shadow said. "She's in on this. We need to help Shade fast."

"On it." Ace said. They turned to leave the cells when about ten armed soldiers with randomly assorted Pokémon, the majority of them Psychic type.

"Halt!" they all shouted. "You're going to be shot if you don't comply."

"Oh, is that so?" Ace said, stepping closer to the soldiers.

"Ace" Shadow said. "Don't do this."

"Oh, it's too late for that." Ace said. "It's happening."

As Ace continued to step closer to the soldiers, the Psychic type Pokémon with them started backing away from Ace, terrified looks on their faces. The soldiers noticed this and sent the non-Psychic types to attack Ace. Ace snapped his fingers and several orbs of Darkness enveloped the attacking Pokémon, knocking them out. The soldiers radioed to someone and another put on an eyepiece of sorts (if you picture a scouter from Dragon Ball Z, that's about what it looked like), scanning Ace with it. He tensed up and began backing up like the Pokémon were. Ace chuckled as he continued moving towards the soldiers.

 _With Shade and Luna_

"So, Shadey" Luna said. "What should I do with you first?"

"Let me go?" Shade attempted.

"Nice try." Luna said. Before she could say anything else, the speaker in the cell blasted out a voice.

"This is Squad one." The voice said. "We need assistance."

"What's the problem?" Luna asked, answering it.

"We have an intruder." The soldier said. "He's dressed similar to Prisoner Two."

Luna looked back at Shade, who was confused.

"What's he like?" Luna asked.

"Can't tell." The soldier said. "All the Psychic types we brought are scared of him."

"That doesn't help." Luna said.

"Hold on." The soldier said. "I'm getting my scouter (er, I mean tracer) and it said he was a Dark type. He's with Prisoner One and he has a Kirlia and a Flareon with him. Oh, Arceo, please don't hurt me—"

The connection went dead after he had said that.

"Funny." Luna said to Shade. "Weren't your Pokémon a Ralts and Eevee?"

"Yeah." Shade said. "Why?"

"This guy is breaking out your friend and has the evolved formes of both of your Pokémon." Luna said. "That's a pretty big coincidence."

"You don't think it could be…" Shade started to say.

"If it is" Luna said. "He'll be pretty hard pressed if he wants to rescue you. I'm no pushover."

"Neither is he." Shade said. "From what I know of him, he's pretty tough."

"I doubt it." Luna said.

"Oh, I don't know." Ace said, warping in through the shadows. "I'm pretty tough. I've managed to hold my own against legendaries."

"How did you get in here?!" Luna exclaimed, jumping back. "That door is locked and is two feet thick steel. Not even a Tyranitar could break through it."

"I'm more powerful than any Tyranitar." Ace said. "I'm here for her."

"Sorry." Luna said, stepping in front of her sister. "You're not going to get her that easily. She still belongs to us."

At that moment the door was kicked into the opposite wall. Standing on the other side of it, and having just punched it in, was Shadow. Pyro and Psy were staring at her, their jaws dropping to the floor.

"How did you do that?!" Pyro asked.

"I'm stronger than I look." Shadow said in her quiet voice.

"Now, let our trainer go, you bit— Luna?!" Psy said, realizing who her best friend's captor was.

"Well, well, well." Luna said, chuckling a little. "Pyro and Psy. You guys've grown."

" _Those are Pyro and Psy?"_ Shadow thought to herself. _"They've gotten so powerful. I can remember when Psy couldn't lift a pencil with her Psychic powers. Now she's probably three times as strong as she was before."_

"Let her go, Luna." Psy demanded.

"Oh, I don't think so." Luna said. "I'm going to run some tests on her first."

"Yeah, no." Ace said, snapping his fingers. Dark tendrils sliced through Shade's restraints, freeing her. Ace took her hand and disappeared into the shadows with her. Shadow teleported with Pyro and Psy.

"Damn it!" Luna cursed to herself. "She got away. But, I'll get you next time Shadey. Mark my words. I let you go this time, but you will be ours. It will not repeat, I swear it."

 _With Shade and the others_

"Where are we?" Shade asked as the group landed in a wooded area of some sort.

"We're in the woods outside of Vineberg." Ace said.

"How did we get here?" Psy asked.

"We teleported." Ace said. "We can grab the badge in Vineberg and get the hell out of here as fast as we can."

"All right." Shade said, standing up. But before she could go anywhere, she was hit by a strange attack and fell over.

"Hey, you bitch!" a feminine Pokémon voice shouted. "You're on my turf!"

 _To be continued-next chapter: Felicia and the Gym_

* * *

well, there you guys go. The conclusion of the Search and Rescue Arc. I'll go more into what they did afterwords in the next chapter. I wonder who this Felicia is (not really, i already know :P ). Her concept art will be on Deviantart soon (as well as the mechanics explanations for certain types (you'll see when i upload them) under this same username. If you're wondering why i didn't have Ace fight Luna or anything, i didn't want to reveal things too quickly. You'll find out about Luna and raZe Corp. later on. Oh, and another note: Ace and Shadow will mostly stay in human forme from here on out as it makes it easier for me (and possibly you guys). Well, i've rambled on long enough. Enjoy.


	7. Halflit

The Halflit

This Pokémon is still very rare, so not much is known about it. What is known about it is what has been observed in older documents. There are only a few known Halflits left and if one is sighted, it usually disappears from the observer.

A Halflit (Felicia's species) is a complicated Pokémon. Little is known to current day humans (humans from the past know about it) about this strange Pokémon. Its appearance, were it not for its colors, would be that of a small human child. The females typically have longer hair that can reach its waist. Males typically have shorter styles.

Its type is a random at best combination of the four elements: Dark, Light, Angel (Fairy), and Demon. It is either the combination of Dark/Angel (Fairy), Demon/Light, or Demon/Angel (Fairy). It cannot be Dark/Light because those two types are sheer opposites on the spectrum and thus cannot exist in the same being. The other combinations are possible because the other types aren't fully Light or fully Dark, so the combination isn't volatile. It is physically divided down the middle for its types, usually with the darker type on the right (from the back) and the lighter type on the other. They are usually about three feet tall and weigh over one hundred pounds. Its stat levels are determined by its type combination. A Dark/Angel combination usually has higher physical power and lower HP. A Demon/Angel combination is usually balanced. A Light/Demon combination is usually a ranged power stat based with lower defenses. A Halflit's moveset is based on its types (e.g. if a Halflit is Dark/Angel, its moveset will mostly consist of those two types etc.).

A Halflit is capable of having four different abilities, however, its abilities depend on its two types. If it has Angel typing, it could have the Dazzling Beauty ability, which can cause Pokémon of the opposite gender to become infatuated unless they are also Angel type. If it has Damon typing, it can have the Demon's Fear ability, which causes opposing Pokémon to be unable to strike as hard, both with physical or ranged moves, as well as moving slower, unless they are Demon type or Dark type. If it has Light typing it could have the Shining Light ability, which causes opposing Pokémon to have much less accuracy and can only be nullified if the opponent is a Light type or Dark type. If it has Dark typing, it could have the Night's Curse ability, which causes the opposing Pokémon to have less accuracy as well as lower evasiveness unless they're a Dark type or Light type.

* * *

For those of you thinking this was a new chapter, i'm so very sorry to disappoint. This is a new species mentioned in later chapters (yes, it's a Fakemon). I'm putting this here to explain, but some of the readers don't go on Deviantart, where i post concept art and profiles, so i'm just putting them here. This chapter and the next chapter are about two new fakemon i'm making. It is advised to go onto Deviantart to see my new charts for Dark type, Angel (Fairy) type, Light type, and Demon type so you're not so confused about the new types.

* * *

if you have questions PM me or put a review (i read both) and i'll answer your questions to the best of my ability.


	8. Dragonica

Dragonica

The Dragonica is a very rare and extremely powerful Pokémon. Like the Halflit, very little is known about it. Its appearance is a mixture of what is assumed to be an angel, a demon, and a dragon.

It is always a combination Dragon, Light, and Dark type, because, unlike the Halflit, it can be both Dark and Light simultaneously, due to its Dragon typing forming a balance between the two (it is unknown if a connection between the Halflit and the Dragonica exists due to their rarity, but they do share similar characteristics). Its main stat is its raw power, being able to lift over one hundred tons at peak strength. Its ranged power is nothing to sneeze at either, being able to destroy a mountain with one blast. Its tail can crush a telephone pole with one twitch. This monster is said to be a legendary, but it's unknown if this is true. This monster is said to have a connection with Arceus as being the God of Hell due to legends of it describing it annihilating entire villages with a Dark and damning fire. If seen, it is advised to hide under sever yards of ground and to beg whatever deity one believes in (whether it be Helix, Arceus, or no deity at all) to let them survive through this monster's attack.

A Dragonica has a powerful moveset consisting of Light, Dark, and Dragon type moves among others. It possibly can learn Angel or Demon type moves if trained in certain moves, but this is unknown.

A Dragonica's ability is Supernaturalis Dragonis, which causes all Dark, Light, Demon, Angel, Ghost, Psychic, and Dragon type moves to receive an estimated 50% increase in power. While this may not seem like much, when a Dragonica's power is already as massive as it is, this is almost like pitting God against humanity (which it essentially is).

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This is probably the last chapter I use for fakemon (i'm pretty sure only these two will make it in). The next chapter is the actual chapter. The Dragonica won't be seen for some time, though, so don't hold your breath for it in the next few chapters. I haven't even figured out what it looks like yet (specifics wise). This is just the description.

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if you have questions PM me or put it in a review (I read both). I will try to answer your questions to the best of my abillity.


	9. Felicia and the Gym

Chapter Five: Felicia and the Gym

 _In the woods just outside of Vineberg_

"How did we get here?" Shade asked her two newest friends as she looked around.

"We teleported." Ace said. "We're just outside of Vineberg."

"I need to get the badge from that Gym." Shade said.

"We'll kill it for you." Pyro said.

"Yeah." Psy said, giggling. "We're way more powerful now. Those Grass types won't know what hit them."

"Ace." Shadow said, looking at Ace's side. "What's with that egg you have?"

"I found it in the woods when I helped Psy and Pyro evolve." Ace said. "A bunch of Murkrow were attacking it and I saved it."

"It's cold." Shadow said, feeling the egg. "It must be an Ice type."

"I thought the same thing." Ace said. "I wonder what it will become."

"Maybe it's a Snorunt." Shadow thought.

"Froslass are pretty cool Pokémon." Ace thought, having known a few Froslass.

"Could be a Kyurem." Shadow joked.

"Not again." Ace jokingly groaned. "One Kyurem in my lifetime was bad enough."

Before they could continue arguing, a strange blast was shot next to them.

"Hey, you bitches!" a feminine Pokémon voice shouted at the group. "You're on my turf!"

"Excuse me?" Ace asked.

"I said" the owner of the voice said, coming into view. "You're on my turf."

The owner of the voice was in a humanoid shape. She was just over four feet tall and had the appearance of a little girl. The left half of her body was yellow, while the right half was grey. She had pointed fingers (not sharp pointed, but just a little pointed). She had deep yellow hair that almost seemed green due to how deep it was. It went down to her waist and in front of her shoulders. Her left eye was pink with a yellow sclera (the white part of the eye) and a black pupil. Her right eye was black with a dark grey sclera. She seemed to hold an expression of confidence and skill.

"A Halflit." Ace said, his voice containing shock. "It's been years since I've seen one."

"What's a Halflit?" Shade asked.

"It'd take too long to explain." Shadow said. "It's a complicated species. They're actually very rare. We've only seen one, not counting this one."

"Who are you calling bitches?!" Pyro shouted at the Divided Pokémon, Fire in her mouth and eyes. "I'll show you who the bitch is!"

"Bring it on, Firecat!" the Halflit said, summoning two different types of energy in each hand. Her left hand called a yellow energy that was unlike the group (save Ace and Shadow) had ever seen. Her right hand held an energy that was similar to Dark energy, but it seemed vastly different somehow.

"She's a Light Demon, isn't she?" Shadow asked.

"Has to be." Ace said. "That's Light energy and that's not Dark energy. Wasn't the one we saw a Dark Angel?"

"I think so." Shadow said, thinking back.

"I can take you!" Pyro shouted, charging at the Halflit. The Halflit simply punched Pyro, sending her backwards into Psy, who couldn't get out of the way fast enough. Shade ran over to attend to her two best friends while Ace and Shadow observed the Halflit.

"My turn." Ace said, stepping closer to the Halflit.

"Ace." Shadow said, putting a hand on her best friend's shoulder. "Don't go overboard."

"Got it." Ace said.

"Oh, please." The Halflit said, chuckling as she put more energy into her hands, Light in the left and the strange non-Dark energy (let's call it Demon energy) in her right. "I'm not afraid of some puny human."

"Well, then." Ace said, almost instantaneously appearing behind the Halflit, startling her. His aura was slightly visible. "I guess you've never met a human like me."

The Halflit didn't turn around, but her eyes widened and her breathing became shallow. She seemed absolutely terrified.

"Wh-what are you?" she asked, her pupils constricting.

"I'm something far beyond the humans of this time." Ace said, his tone like normal.

"You're…" The Halflit asked nervously. "A Pokémorph?"

"In a sense." Ace said. "Some people refer to us as Gijinkas. Others as halflings. I prefer to be referred to as a human because that's what I am. When I was growing up, everybody was like this."

"You're fast." The Halflit said, turning around as fast as she could and throwing a punch at Ace so fast that only she, Ace, and Shadow could track it. Ace appeared behind her again, touching her shoulder.

"You're fast." Ace said, causing her to turn around again. "Surprising for a Light Demon."

"My Power is what you should watch out for." The Halflit said, charging up a Dark Punch. This time Ace caught her fist in midair.

"It is quite impressive." Ace said. "But, unfortunately for you, you can't use both of your types at once from one side."

"How did you know that?!" The Halflit said, shocked.

"It's the weakness of every Halflit." Ace said.

"Well, what are you" The Halflit asked. "To know so much about us?"

"My name is Ace Hunter." Ace said. "My white clad best friend over there is Shadow. We're from the past. We're travelling through this region with Shade over there, who's traveling with her two best friends, Psy the Kirlia and Pyro the Flareon."

"My names Felicia." The Halflit said. "I'm the most powerful member of my family."

"Congratulations." Shadow said.

"I'm going to kick your ass someday." Felicia promised. "And I'm going to go with you to train to do just that."

"Sweet." Ace said, always one for a challenge.

"I don't know." Shade said, walking up to them. "I don't think she's going to be an asset to the team."

"I won't take your orders" Felicia said in a bold voice. "Until you have at least two badges. After that I'll help you somewhat."

"Why do you care how many badges she has?" Ace asked.

"I don't want to take orders from an incompetent trainer." Felicia said. "But, I'll go with you guys."

"Let's go." Shade said. "I need to get my second badge."

"We should wait for some time." Shadow said. "Those raZe Corp guys might be looking for us."

"You guys are hiding from raZe Corp?" Felicia asked.

"Pretty much." Shade said.

"But if I see any of them again." Ace said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm gonna kick their asses."

"But could you take on all of them?" Shade asked.

"Maybe." Ace said. "But, we're going to enter the Gym, Psy and Pyro are going to beat the sh!t out of Ivy's Pokémon, and we're going to leave Vineberg."

"There's a clothing shop I might want to check out after the gym." Shade said. "It's not because it's all I think bout, it's because I only brought one change of clothes and I have a feeling I'll need at least a couple more clothing articles."

"Women." Ace muttered jokingly. Pyro chuckled.

"I'm going while she's in the gym." Shadow said. "I need to get a new shirt just in case. When we walked past it I saw this hilarious one and it made me think to grab one."

"That's why we don't wear clothes." Felicia said.

"You would if you had a human forme." Ace said.

"I'd probably be taller if I had a human forme." Felicia said.

"Right." Ace said. "Unless you were about ten."

"I'm eighteen." Felicia said. "I'm actually tall for my species."

"Really?" Ace asked. "It's been so long since I've seen a Halflit I had no idea how tall they were."

"They're about three and a half feet tall at max." Felicia said. "But I'm tall for my age."

"About nine inches tall for your age." Ace said.

"Right" Felicia said. "Now, let's get the gym battle over with so we can leave here. This place is boring. You guys seem like you could bring about some action."

"Allright." Shade said. "But, let's rest for the night before we go."

"I was going to suggest the same thing" Ace said.

 _The next morning_

Shade woke up and stretched, releasing the tension in her muscles. The rest of the group woke up and ate some breakfast. They waited until about eleven o'clock and prepared to enter Vineberg again, Shade making sure they had everything she'd need.

She and the group walked into Vineberg. They parted ways, Shade, Pyro and Psy going to the gym and Ace, Shadow, Felicia, and the egg Ace held onto heading towards the clothing shop.

"Stay right here." Shadow said as she walked in. "I'm not going to be long, but I want this to be a surprise."

"Okay." Ace said as he and Felicia waited outside of the store on a bench. Felicia took out a stone from in her hair and looked at it.

"That's a pretty stone." Ace said, noticing it.

"My mother gave it to me." Felicia said, actually looking sad. "Before she was killed. She said it held some hidden power like her love or something, but it's just a pretty stone that I keep in memory of her."

"I'm so sorry." Ace said. "My parents were killed too."

"By who?" Felicia asked.

"I never cared enough to find out." Ace said. "I didn't want Shadow to really know and I was happy with the legendaries."

"Oh." Felicia said. "My mother was killed by a Dragon type. It traumatized me and now I'm scared of Dragon types."

"It's all right." Ace said. "You've got friends right here that will be here for you."

"Thanks." Felicia said.

"So." Felicia said, resuming the conversation. "What species are you? Since you're a Pokémorph and all? I can tell you're a Dark type by both your clothing style and the small parts of your aura I could read, but nothing beyond that."

"I'm a Darkrai." Ace said (like you guys didn't see this coming if you've read Azure Light or even the last three chapters).

"A D-d-darkrai?" Felicia asked nervously. "Really?"

"Yep." Ace said, leaning back on the bench. "But, don't worry. I won't give you nightmares. I'm willing to bet there's not a Cresselia for miles, though."

"I'm not afraid of your nightmare powers." Felicia said. "I've been trained to resist them."

"Trust me." Ace said. "If I wanted to, I could put you through a hell so bad, Giratina wouldn't dare harvest your soul for fear of it."

"I'm not afraid of you." Felicia said.

"I wasn't trying to be scary." Ace said. "Trust me, you'll know when I'm being scary."

"Interesting." Felicia said. "By the way, what's with the egg in that pouch you have?"

"I found it in the woods." Ace explained. "When I was evolving Pyro and Psy to save Shade and Shadow."

"Shadow doesn't seem like the type to need saving." Felicia said, thinking it over. "She's packing away as much power as you are."

"We were in much less powerful formes." Ace explained. "The people of raZe Corp surprised her and knocked her unconscious before she could enter her human forme or her pokéforme."

"So" Felicia said, thinking it over. "If it came down to a fight, who would win, you or her?"

"If we were both serious" Ace said, without hesitation, as if he'd pondered this fact before. "then it could go either way. We're both powerful Dark types and know each other's fighting styles and capabilities."

"She's a Dark type?" Felicia asked, confused. "She doesn't seem like one."

"She's a Dark Gardevoir" Ace said. "To put it in a nutshell. She's not an Angel type, but instead a Dark type."

"I'll have to take your word for it." Felicia said, shrugging her shoulders. "But still. She's pretty tough."

"She's one of the two strongest legendaries back in our time." Ace said.

"You guys were legendaries?" Felicia asked, surprised. "I mean, I guess I could understand you. Darkrai are considered legendary class, but a Gardevoir?"

"Remember" Ace said. "The things humans think they know about Pokémon that is actually wrong is staggering."

"True" Felicia said. "But, how is she a legendary?"

"The same way I am." Ace said. "She was chosen by Arceus."

"Who's Arceus?" Felicia asked. "The leader of the Council nowadays is Arcen."

"Arcen, huh?" Ace thought. Arcey told me about a brother she had named Arcen. Though, he'd have died in between the time of now and my time."

"Well, he's god now, I guess." Felicia said. "Unless it's someone else with the same name."

"Arceans don't usually do that." Ace said. "But, back to the question. Arceus was the god of my time. She's the one that chose me and Shadow as legendaries as well as the other members of the Council."

"Cool." Felicia said. "But, back to the question I asked earlier. What are you going to do with that egg?"

"Take care of it." Ace said. "It might be ready to hatch soon. It's cold (meaning it's an Ice type), but it's cold enough that the Pokémon inside might have already gotten its Ice essence, so I expect that it will pop out of its shell any second."

"Nice." Felicia said. "Do you know what it is?"

"Nope." Ace said. "But, it's going to be Ice type."

"Hmm." Felicia said. She was going to say something else when Shadow walked out of the store wearing different clothes.

"Hi, guys." She said in her quiet voice.

"Hey, Shad—" Ace said, just before he actually turned and saw his best friend. When he saw her, he stopped speaking and just stared at her. He actually sat up straighter.

Shadow was wearing a flowing, white dress that went down to the ground. It opened up a little in the front, revealing a green underside. She was wearing a pair of white boots (her favorite pair) with white leggings. The sleeves of the dress were green, along with the formal gloves she was now wearing. Her hair saw let down, allowing it to flow a little. It didn't reach her shoulders, but the green highlights in it complimented her dress and gloves. Her eyes were sparkling, the red in them like rubies.

"Do I look nice?" she asked, looking at Ace.

"I— um— uh" Ace stammered as he took in the sight of his best friend that he'd known pretty much his whole life. A thin, red line began to run from his nose, even going into his mouth, which was open. Even Felicia couldn't stop staring.

" _Damn!"_ Felicia thought. _"She looks gorgeous. I'm not into girls or humans, but even I can't help but think she looks absolutely stunning."_

Shadow giggled. This was actually the reaction she had wanted from Ace.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'." Shadow said, giggling again as she dropped the illusion she had put up, revealing that she was in her normal clothes. Felicia recovered almost immediately, but Ace was still a little stunned seeing his best friend in a dress she'd only worn once before (Azure Light ch. 7). Felicia snapped her fingers in his face, jolting him back to consciousness.

"Holy sh!t." Ace said (a bit of a delayed reaction there). "you look great."

"Thanks." Shadow said, giggling again. "That nosebleed really compliments your scarf."

"You actually got a nosebleed?!" Felicia said, laughing a little at Ace. "You must never see her in that outfit!"

"I did once before." Ace said, wiping his nose. "I got one then too."

"That's a laugh!" Felicia said, laughing again. "Why's she wear it? A wedding?"

"Prom." Shadow said, walking over and setting down a bag of clothes next to Ace.

"What's all this?" Ace asked, looking at the bag.

"Some necessities." Shadow said. "A second shirt and pair of pants for both of us as well as some Pokéballs and Potions for Shade. Also, I got some special 'treats' for the whole group of us. No peeking, though. It's a surprise until Shade finishes her gym match."

"Well" Ace said, leaning back on the bench. "At least you can take fifteen minutes and get some nice stuff."

"Yeah." Felicia said. "You know how to shop fast. Most women like to browse the isles."

"I don't." Shadow said. "It's a trait I learned from Ace. Get what you need fast and get it right."

"I take pride in that." Ace said, standing up and once again trying to see the contents of Shadow's shopping bag. "Now, let's see what we got."

"I told you not yet." Shadow said, playfully smacking Ace's hand. "We need to wait for Shade and the others."

"Fine." Ace said, sitting back down on the bench. Suddenly he moved.

"What's up with you?" Felicia asked, confused.

"I think it's the egg." Ace said, looking over at the egg in the pouch he was carrying. It was moving in jolts, like something was trying to break out of it. Shadow stepped over to Ace, looking at the egg as Felicia moved around the bench to see it. Ace pulled it out of its pouch and began to look at it.

Cracks appeared in the egg's shell, spreading all around it. Chips of the egg broke off as light poured from the inside of the egg. Suddenly, the entire shell broke off in an explosion to reveal…

 _With Shade, Pyro, and Psy— Vineberg Gym waiting area_

"How long have we been waiting here?" Pyro groaned as she lay down on Shade's legs. The three of them had been sitting outside the gym for about fifteen minutes and they were bored. The receptionist at the desk had told them that Ivy, the Gym leader, was busy with another challenger and would be finished in a few minutes. So, Shade, Pyro, and Psy were forced to wait until they were done.

"We've been here about fifteen minutes." Shade said, looking at her watch. "She should be done by now."

As if on cue, a young boy of about fifteen holding a near unconscious Riolu walked out of the Gym arena, looking defeated (which he was).

He was wearing a brown pair of pants with brown shoes. He wore a black turtleneck under a blue jacket that was the same shade as a Lucario's fur. He had a necklace that was a ring around his neck which had three connections to another ring that hung down. He had a blue hat on that had three points in the back. His hair was a grey blue, the same shade as his eyes He was about Shade's height.

"What happened to you?" Shade asked, curious as to why he looked so defeated.

"She beat me." He said. "Her team was superb. She countered every single one of my strategies and attacks. She's something else."

"We're going to take her out." Pyro said, proudly grinning as her collar bristled from her excitement.

"Your Flareon seems excited." The boy said. "Sure wish I had a Fire type. The only one I have is a Charmander, but he's underpowered compared to her Pokémon. Not that I don't like him, it's just that he's unprepared for this Gym. I didn't even bring him because I was afraid he'd take irreparable damage."

"She's pretty excited." Shade said, chuckling. "She's wanted to take out this Gym for a while."

"You can talk to Pokémon?" the boy asked.

"A little." Shade said, realizing she'd said something she probably shouldn't have (remember people were locked up for being able to speak to Pokémon).

"Cool." The boy said. "Me too. I didn't think you could, so I didn't say anything. People are so cruel to others that are different."

"I know that feeling." Shade said, extending her hand. "My name's Shade."

"Riley." The boy, Riley, said, shaking Shade's outstretched hand. "My partner, Riolu, and I were trying to better strengthen ourselves at this gym. We proved we weren't strong enough yet, but we will become stronger and prove ourselves worthy of being the champions."

"I look forward to challenging you for your spot." Shade said as Riley walked towards the door of the Gym.

"You'll have to beat Ivy here first." Riley said, chuckling.

"I plan to." Shade said, clenching her fist.

"Well, good luck, then." Riley said. "Me and my team are going to train and get stronger so we can defeat her. We're working on aura techniques."

"Oh, I know a friend that knows about that too." Shade said. "He might could teach me how to do that."

"Well" Riley said, intrigued by this. "He'd have to do pretty good to match a Lucario's skill at aura techniques."

"You were trained by a Lucario?" Shade asked.

"yes." Riley said. "His name was Aaron. He was a great teacher. For some reason everyone called him Sir Aaron. Something about him being a knight of some kind in his younger days."

"Cool." Shade said. "My friend isn't a Lucario, but he does know a lot about Pokémon."

"Is he a professor?" Riley asked.

"I doubt it." Shade said. "He's more of an action guy."

"Yeah." Pyro said. "He'd kick your trainer's ass."

"I doubt that." Riley said. "Aaron was always a powerful fighter. Even now, in his older age, he's still strong enough to outfight a Machamp."

"So's my friend." Shade said. "Trust me, he's a fighter."

"I guess I'll have to meet him sometime." Riley said. "Well, I've got to be going. Good luck on your Gym challenge."

"You too." Shade said as Riley left the gym.

"Miss Shade." The receptionist said, coming out of the Gym's arena. "Ivy will see you now."

"Sweet." Shade said, walking into the arena.

 _With Ace, Shadow, and Felicia_

The egg exploded in a flash of light, an orb from the egg landing on the ground in front of the three observers (this is how frickin huge or heavy Pokémon like Onix or Larvitar can be in an egg and the egg not be huge or heavy, allowing trainers to carry them with almost relative ease). When the light faded, a baby Pokémon was standing in front of them.

The Pokémon that appeared was about four feet tall from head to foot and seemed to be a female. She was an icy blue color and seemed glossy. She had four short legs, her back two legs having a small white nail. Her underbelly was white and resembled white ice. She had a short tail that was moving as if to experience the feeling. She had a long neck that made up half of her actual height. She had two frills on either side of her head. They were yellow on the lower section, but faded to orange at the upper section. Her eyes were large and were cobalt color. She had a small smile that seemed very big indeed.

"Amaura!" she shouted (that was all it meant—when a baby hatches or evolves, the first thing it says is its species name—another note: for a few days after hatching, a baby Pokémon only says its species name. It isn't until after several days (this doesn't matter for some Psychic types) that a baby Pokémon says actual words in its language (the language of Pokémon)).

"It's an Amaura." Felicia said, surprised. Amaura were rare, especially in this region.

"Amaura!" the Amaura shouted, looking at Ace with her big blue eyes. She tackled him to the ground, nuzzling his face with her nose. Ace rubbed her head, laughing.

"I think I'll call you 'Maura'" Ace said. "Because you remind me of another Amaura I know with the same name."

"She's very cute." Shadow said, rubbing Maura's neck.

"Yes, she is." Ace said.

"Excuse me." Came a gruff voice from near the four beings. "But, do any of you know a Shade Lunacia?"

"Who wants to know?" Ace asked, standing up and getting a good look at the person that asked.

The person in question was about Ace's height (counting his pointed ears). He had blue fur everywhere except his arms, legs, and his chest area. His legs were black as were his arms. They were shaped like paws, but he walked on two legs. Each of his hands had a steel colored, spike coming out of them, as did his chest. His nose was long, but not really long. He had eyeteeth that pointed out of his mouth. His eyes were steely black and seemed to be able to see into people's souls. He was a Lucario.

"Well, well, well." Ace said, chuckling. "Sir Aaron. It's been a while. And I see you've brought your pupil. Riley, was it? Here to challenge the Gym?"

"Yep." Riley said, his partner, Riolu, giving her agreement.

"So, I heard from Riley that Shade can speak to her Pokémon." Aaron said. "And that she had someone who knew a lot about aura teaching her. Naturally, I assumed that it would be a Lucario, but you are just as good. It's been a while for me as well, Ace Hunter."

"So, how is Riley doing?" Ace asked.

"He's doing fine." Aaron said, chuckling. "I've had to teach him multiple times not to talk to his Pokémon in public, but it's a lesson learned the hard way. Shade at least has the excuse of having a Psyhic type known for telepathy. But, still, I fear she's not completely safe."

"I'm here." Ace said. "I think she's safe enough."

"And there's the fact that she's not very well known." Shadow added.

"Well, if raZe Corp tries to take her—" Aaron said, causing a confused look on Riley's face.

"If they try anything" Ace said. "I'll be here. Every Psychic, Dark, Ghost, or Lucario knows what I am and what I'm capable of."

"But do you know what she's capable of?" Aaron asked the Dark type.

"If she's got a deep connection" Ace said. "Then she's not manifested enough of it to be a problem."

"But, she's been taken before, right?" Aaron asked.

"How did you know that?" Ace asked, his tone beginning to become threatening.

"I can read minds, you know." Aaron said. "If she's what you think she is, you've got to teach her to conceal her aura."

"She has only a small connection." Ace said. "Not much beyond anything, especially not Riley's right there. If she's concealing it, she's doing it unconsciously and so well not even I can sense it."

"they do have Pokemorphs on their side." Aaron said. "Especially that Luna girl."

"I've met her." Ace said. "I know exactly what she's capable of. That's why I didn't engage her right then. I didn't want Shade to be exposed to this view of the world just yet. I wanted to let her become a suitable trainer first. She's not ready for this."

"You know as well as I do" Aaron said, stepping right up to Ace. "That she plays a part in all of this. I know what you think will happen, and if you want to prevent it from truly happening, you will begin to train her."

"I won't let it happen." Ace said. "She doesn't have to go down that road."

"She's already on it." Aaron said, his voice solemn. "Since she was born."

"Come on, Riley." Aaron said, motioning his pupil to follow. "We've got to prepare you for that Gym challenge.

"Sir Aaron?" Riley asked as he and his mentor walked away. "What was that about?"

"I was just talking to an old friend." The Lucario said to his pupil. "About certain things that will come to pass soon."

"Can you tell me about them?" Riley asked.

"Maybe someday." Aaron said to his pupil. "But, not today."

"What was that about?" Felicia asked.

"An old friend." Shadow said. "We're just talking about a few things."

"Should we tell Shade?" Felicia asked.

"No.' Ace said. "I'd prefer to tell her when the situation's better. Let's let her later. She should enjoy her Gym battle."

 _With Shade, Pyro, and Psy—Vineberg Gym arena_

"So" Ivy said, facing her challenger. "You're Shade?"

Ivy was basically dressed as Poison Ivy from Batman: The Animated Series (90s version). Her hair was green as were her eyes. She held a confident gaze as her challenger looked as if she'd been on her journey for less than a week. Piece of cake.

"Yeah." Shade said. "And I'm the one who's going to beat you."

"Big talk." Ivy said. "But, can you back it up?"

"We'll see." Shade said.

"I choose Gloom." Ivy said, sending out her Pokéball, which held her Gloom. The Flower Pokémon popped out, getting into a battle stance.

"You're up Psy." Shade said. Psy stepped up, bowing to her opponent as if preparing to use martial arts.

(Please note that Ivy can't understand her Pokémon, but Shade can—also note that Shade communicates her battle moves telepathically via Psy, if she does at all (Shade mostly helps her team with the defensive strategies))

"Ready for this?" Shade asked her best friend. Psy nodded, smiling as she clenched her fists.

" _I sure hope this evolution helps some."_ She thought to herself.

"Battle Commence!" Ivy shouted, beginning the battle.

"Gloom, use Poison Powder!" Ivy called out to her Gloom. Her Gloom reacted by spitting poison from his flower.

"Psy!" Shade said. "Use Safeguard."

"On it." Psy said, casting the protective move. The Poison Powder vanished as Psy's field enveloped the area.

"Now." Shade said. "Use Psychic."

"Right." Psy said. She concentrated her Psychic powers on the Gloom, picking him up and slamming him on the ground three times before it was evident the Gloom couldn't battle anymore.

"you're actually pretty good." Ivy said as she recalled her Gloom and sent out her next Pokémon, a Weepinbell.

"Weepinbell" Ivy ordered. "Use Gunk Shot!"

Shade's eyes widened. Gunk Shot was a pretty powerful poison type move. Psy was a Fairy (or, as Ace called it, Angel) type, which meant she would take double damage from the Poison type attack.

The shot came from Weepinbell's mouth at an amazing speed. Psy never saw it coming. The attack hit her right in the face, temporarily blinding her. The Poison effect didn't kick in due to the Safeguard that Psy had put up, but the damage was still done. Psy had poor defenses, being a Kirlia, and couldn't resist the attack for very long.

Psy was almost unconscious, but she still possessed enough energy to hit the Weepinbell with a Psychic blast that knocked her back about eight feet. The Weepinbell got back up, however, hurt, but still battle ready. Psy then fainted, her eyes closing.

Shade was shocked. She had never had one of her partners faint before. It was a new sensation to realize that your Pokémon could still be beaten. Shade dropped to her knees as Pyro nudged her best friend with her front paw.

"You guys know she's not dead, right?" Ivy asked, understanding Shade's feelings. "She'll be fine. The Poison effect didn't kick in due to her Safeguard. She'll be fine if you take her to a Pokémon Center."

"Right." Shade said, picking up her fainted partner. "Pyro, I guess it's your turn."

"It's payback time, bitch!" Pyro said to the Weepinbell.

"Bring it on." The Weepinbell said, chuckling. "I'll take you out just as easily as your friend."

"Big mistake." Pyro said. "Prepare to get burned."

Shade face palmed, causing Ivy to look at her with confusion.

Pyro shot a weak Ember attack at the Weepinbell, hitting her right in the mouth. The Burn effect kicked in immediately, causing the Weepinbell to cringe in pain for about ten seconds before fainting.

"Looks like you" Pyro said, chuckling. "just got burned."

Shade face palmed again. Ivy simply grabbed her last Pokéball and tossed it out. A green Pokémon with a plant in its back popped out: an Ivysaur.

"So, this f #$er wants some too." Pyro said, Fire in her mouth.

"Bring it on." The Ivysaur said, two vines extending from his plant.

Pyro launched a massive Flamethrower at the Ivysaur, causing significant damage to him. However, he wasn't down just yet and threw his vines at Pyro, grabbing her around the waist. The Ivysaur lifted her up bodily, preparing to throw her across the room. Pyro bit down on one of the vines, sending Fire energy throughout it. The Ivysaur shouted in pain, releasing Pyro. Pyro ran towards the Ivysaur, Fire in her mouth. The Ivysaur launched several seeds at Pyro, who stopped running to try to dodge them.

"Pyro!" Shade called. "Use your tail!"

" _My tail?"_ Pyro thought to herself before the realization hit her. "Oh, right!"

Pyro's tail turned a metallic grey and shone in the light of the room. She then used her hardened tail to attack the seeds and destroy them. However, Pyro wasn't done yet. She ran toward the Ivysaur once again, her metallic tail lighting ablaze as she swung it as hard as she could into the Ivysaur's face. The force of the blow knocked the Ivysaur out, causing Ivy's jaw to drop.

"Wh-what kind of move was that?" she asked, confused. "There's not a move registered like that in the Pokédex."

"The Pokédex only contains a small amount of data that people think they know about Pokémon." Shade said. "What we don't know vastly outweighs what we do. That move was called Flaming Tail. It's something Pyro can do by combining her Fire aspect with her Iron Tail."

"that's pretty neat." Ivy said, recalling her Ivysaur. "You should probably take them to the Center, though. But first, here're your prizes: the Floral Badge and the TM for Solarbeam."

Ivy handed Shade a badge in the shape of a flower and a small disk.

"Now don't waste these." Ivy cautioned the rookie trainer.

"Right." Shade said as she and Pyro walked out of the Gym, Shade still carrying Psy in her arms. They stopped by the Center for about five minutes to heal up and headed to the store where Ace, Felicia, and Shadow were with a blue Pokémon.

"Hey, guys!" Shade called to her friends. "We're back. Who's that Pokémon?"

"This is Maura." Shadow said, pointing to the Amaura, who smiled and waved, saying 'Amaura'. "She's from the egg that Ace found."

"Nice to meet you, Maura." Shade said. Maura walked over, nuzzling Shade, Pyro, and Psy with her nose. The three girl giggled as the Icy Sail Pokémon rubbed them.

"She's very sweet." Psy said.

"How come I can't understand her?" Shade asked. "All I heard from her was 'Amaura'."

"That's what happens with infant Pokémon." Ace said. "They only say their species name for a few days after hatching."

"Well, it feels good to have gotten a second badge." Shade said, pumping her fist in the air as her two best friends did something similar.

"Nice." Ace said, grabbing a bag near his feet. "Now we can see the stuff Shadow got for us."

"Stuff?" Shade asked.

"I went shopping." Shadow said. "I grabbed us some supplies as well as me and Ace some new clothes. I also got us some treats."

"Star Candy!" Ace said, throwing the star shaped candies to the group. There were two for each of them. They enjoyed their candies, thanking Shadow for them.

"Ace" Pyro said, looking at the Dark type. "did you get in a fight while we were in the Gym?"

"No." Ace said, confused. "Why?"

"Because it looks like you had a nosebleed." Psy said.

"That's not from a fight." Felicia said, snickering.

"Then what's it from?" Shade asked, confused.

"you're not old enough to understand it yet." Ace said.

"I'm thirteen." Shade said.

"You'll understand it when you find that special someone for you." Shadow said, wrapping her arms around Ace's.

"So, what's the next city?" Shade asked. "I want my third Gym badge."

"Rustown." Ace said. "But there's another city in between here and there, so it'll be a while before we get there."

"Is there anything to do on the way?" Pyro asked. "I don't want to be bored."

"We'll find something." Ace said, rubbing Maura's head, causing her to make contented noises.

"I'm sure there's something to do." Shadow said, also rubbing Maura's head.

"Now, let's go!" Felicia shouted, running off towards the city exit. "I'll race you guys down route 2015!"

"You're on!" Pyro shouted, running after her. Shade and the others laughed, watching the two.

"We should go after them." Ace said. "They're not registered in Pokéballs. They could be fair game."

"Right." Shade said. The rest of the group took off running after the competitive Flareon and Halflit.

 _Elsewhere_

"Yes, I know we lost them." Luna said over the payphone. "And yes, I know what she meant to the plan."

A pause while the person on the other end spoke.

"Well, I didn't want to start a fight with the guy." Luna said. "He's got some power behind him, that's for sure. His girlfriend's got a decent amount herself. I definitely couldn't take them both on."

Luna paused, listening to the other person's words.

"Of course, I'll get them back." Luna promised. "But, I can't now. They're all together. And they've got a Halflit with them."

Another pause.

"Of course I know what a Halflit is capable of." Luna said. "I'm definitely taking that risk. The only things worse than a Halflit are a Dragonica or a Dark type, but I doubt they have one of those."

Luna's eyes widened as the other person spoke.

"I understand we're that far along with this." Luna said. "I'll get her back, I promise. Trust me on this one. Shadey's mine."

* * *

well, it would seem that there's something up with this story. It's not your average trainer fic, now is it? What is Shade? Find out probably not next chapter.

* * *

On a side note, the art for the Dragonica is on Deviantart under this username. Just put it up this afternoon.


	10. Nightmare Headache

Chapter Six: Nightmare Headache

"Ace! Shadow! Help!" Shade yelled as she ran out of the woods. She ran up to Ace, Shadow, and Maura, who were sleeping. Ace was lying on a bench asleep with Shadow on top of him, also asleep. One of Ace's arms was around Shadow, potentially to keep her from falling off of the bench. Maura was sleeping down in front of the bench, curled up with her head resting as it stretched out.

"Ace, Shadow!" She shouted, shaking her friends awake (or at least trying to). "Wake up!"

"Youdamn it, Arcey." Ace mumbled a little, not moving from his current position. "Five more f #$ing minutes. You and Giratina can have your "meeting" later (if you've read Azure Light, you know exactly what he's talking about)."

Shade looked at the Dark type in confusion. This was a strange statement (not that she didn't know what it meant) coming from Ace.

"Ace." Shade said, shaking him again. "You need to wake up now! It's an emergency!"

"Huh?" Ace mumbled, blinking his eyes open, Shadow doing the same.

"Hurry!" Shade yelled, running back towards the woods.

"What is it?" Ace asked, Shadow getting off of him. Ace rolled off the bench only to fall onto Maura, waking her up.

"Amaura." The infant Ice type yawned. She stood up and stretched her legs, moving her neck around to get the kinks out of it.

"Hurry!" Shade yelled, running into the woods. Ace picked up Amaura (she only weighs about fifty five and a half pounds, but Ace has lifted far more than that) and ran into the woods, Shadow on his heels.

When they entered the woods, they saw a strange sight: Psy and Pyro were trying to restrain a struggling Felicia.

"Let me at him!" She shouted, trying to get free of the two Pokémon. "I'm gonna tear him limb from limb!"

"What's going on here?" Ace asked, putting Maura down, the latter nuzzling his hand with her head, causing him to rub it (her head). "What did Felicia and/or Pyro do?"

"There's this scary monster in the woods." Psy said, holding Felicia's arm and pulling backwards. "And it's really mad."

"Hey, why do you assume me or Felicia did it?" Pyro asked, though it was hard to understand due to the fact that she was holding Felicia's other hand in her teeth.

"Did you?" Ace asked, his tone firm.

"Yes." Mumbled Pyro.

"Well" Ace said, stepping in front of the three Pokémon. "What's this scary monster?"

As if on cue, an enraged Pokémon roared as it came out of the woods, tearing trees out of its way.

The Pokémon was almost as tall as Ace, only shorted by about an inch. He had purplish brown fur that covered his whole body. He had claws about three inches long on both his feet and hands. He walked on two legs and had powerful arms. He had a white ring on his stomach and chest area. His ears were round and on top of his head. His teeth were all pointed as he snarled like a monster.

"What is it?" Shade asked, ducking behind Shadow, who gasped at its appearance.

"It's an Ursaring." Ace said. "But something's different about it."

"Ace." Shadow said, taking a step back. "It has a Shadow Aura."

"What?!" Ace exclaimed, examining the Ursaring's aura to find out that Shadow was right.

"What's a Shadow Pokémon?" Shade asked.

"A Shadow Pokémon" Shadow explained. "Is a Pokémon that has succumbed to the effects of Pokerus."

"I thought Pokerus was a good virus." Pyro said, her, Psy, and Felicia standing behind Shadow.

"It's not." Ace said, backing next to Shadow. "It slowly corrupts the host's body, turning it into a monster only capable of destruction."

"You sound as if you've met one before." Felicia said.

"I have." Ace said, a tear rolling down his cheek. "And it killed one of my closest friends."

"What happened?" Shade asked.

"It took over Lugia, the Sea Guardian." Shadow explained. "Ace fought him and was forced to end his life to save Lugia's niece, Bianca, and the rest of the legendaries."

"That sounds horrible." Psy said (to her it felt especially horrible, her being a Kirlia and all), putting a hand on Ace's arm.

"It was." Ace said. "But, now it's time to deal with this Shadow Pokémon."

The Shadow Ursaring roared at Ace, who stepped up to face it.

"Shadow." Ace said. "Charge a Blood Moon."

"Right." Shadow said, absorbing Dark energy into her hands, creating a ball of pure, concentrated Darkness.

The Shadow Ursaring swiped his massive claw at Ace, who dodged and grabbed the arm in midair. He punched the Bear Pokémon in the arm, breaking it with a sickening crunch that caused Shade, Pyro, and Psy to wince just from the sound of the break.

Ace leap over the Shadow Ursaring, punching it in the back of the head. The Shadow Ursaring became disoriented, holding the back of his head with his unbroken arm.

"Now, Shadow!" Ace called, pinning both of the Shadow Ursaring's arms behind his back. Shadow launched her Dark infused ball of energy at the Shadow Ursaring, striking it directly in the ring in the middle of his chest. The Shadow Ursaring's body began to disintegrate, the Shadow Ursaring roaring in pain.

Once done, Ace and Shadow relaxed, panting. They actually hadn't expected to use this much energy.

"That took more energy than it should have." Ace said. "That was a strong Shadow Pokémon."

"You said it." Shadow said. "Well, at least that one's the only one."

"Right." Ace said. "I'd hate to have to fight a Horde of them."

"Can we talk about this?" Psy asked, confused.

"Yeah." Ace said. "Don't go into the woods without us ever again. And don't piss off wild Pokémon. End of discussion."

"Well, we should get to the next city." Shadow said. "Kantoville, was it?"

"Yeah." Shade said, pulling out a map. "It should be just ten miles away from us."

"My one question is" Ace said. "Why the f #$ are there woods on every Arceodamn route?!"

"To shelter Bird Pokémon." Shade said. "Some environmental thing, I guess."

"Well, if I meet another Ursaring like that one" Ace said, clenching his fist. "Then there's gonna be a few more environmentalists in the Distortion World."

Shadow giggled. She always thought it was funny when Ace acted this way.

"So" Felicia said. "Which way to Kantoville?"

"That wa— aughhh" Shade said before she got a splitting headache, dropping her to her knees.

"Shade!" Pyro and Psy cried, running over to her.

"St-stay back!" Shade shouted, holding a hand out. Her voice seemed to be changing.

"What's wrong with her?" Psy asked Ace, who seemed just as confused as the rest of them were.

"I'm not sure." Ace said. "But, I really hope it's not what I think it is."

"What do you think it is?" Psy asked, worried for her best friend.

At that moment, Shade cried out in pain again, her arms and head being thrown back. Her hair flashed white for less than a split second before returning to black. A surge of power came from her body, causing everyone except Ace and Shadow to shudder. She clutched her head again, shouting.

 _Nearby_

"So." Luna said, observing the scene. "It's happening. I didn't expect it to occur so soon. This might be a problem."

 _With Shade and the others_

Shade continued to shout in pain as she curled up into a ball. Ace and Shadow stood in front of the others, telling them to get back. Shade stopped shouting after about another minute and stood up, leaning over and putting her hands on her knees, panting.

"Wh-what was that?" she panted, sweat on her forehead and arms.

"I think it was a Dark burst." Ace said, still cautioning the others to stay back. "It's something I can't really explain."

"But, what can I do about it?" Shade asked. "I felt like my brain was being torn apart."

"I'll try to figure something out." Ace said. "They usually only happen when a there's a threat nearby, but I can't sense anything."

"But, what can—auggh" Shade said before a headache took her once again. This one dropped her to her knees once again. Her hair began to flash white and her eyes (when they were visible—she was blinking them) were turning red and then their original colors, a mix of blue and black.

"What is she doing?" Felicia asked. She'd never seen something like this before.

"She's becoming something more than human." Shadow said.

"As if Shade was ever fully human." Ace said.

"What do you mean?" Psy asked, worried. She had known Shade for almost her whole life (they were about the same age) and had never thought Shade was anything more than a normal girl.

"What do you mean I'm not human?!" Shade asked. The others looked at her, all but Ace, Shadow, and Maura (who was an infant, so she had no idea what actually was happening with Shade) gasping in surprise.

Shade's hair was purely white and was standing up and waving. Her eyes were red and the aura she had (every living thing has an aura, but most humans' auras don't show up very well— a Pokémon has a much more visible aura than a human) was Darker. Everyone other than Ace and Shadow put their hand to their heads in minor pain.

 _Elsewhere_

"So" Luna said, still watching her little sister from afar. "Shade's starting to realize just what she is. This can complicate things."

 _With Shade and the others_

"Shade's a Pokémorph?" Pyro gasped.

"Apparently." Ace said.

"But, don't Pokémorphs turn into Pokémon?" Felicia asked, confused because Shade was, well, still in a somewhat human forme.

"There are two types of Pokémorphs." Shadow explained. "The first type, also known as the Old Pokémorphs, do transform into Pokémon."

"The second type" Ace helped his best friend explain. "also known as New Pokémorphs, usually transform into a forme in between human and Pokémon. However, Shade is an Old Pokémorph."

"What do you mean?" Psy asked. "She's still sort of human."

"Old Pokémorphs are Pokémorphs from before the Pokémon/human split." Shadow said. "However, Shade is utilizing her hidden, latent powers."

"Latent powers?" Felicia asked.

"That small headache you're getting" Ace said. "Is a result of Shade's Nightmare powers."

"Nightmare powers?" Psy asked. "But, the only Pokémon that have those is…"

"Exactly." Ace said, knowing what she'd say. "That is exactly what Shade is: a Darkrai (okay, how many of you didn't see this coming—it should be a small number, right?)."

"A D-d-darkrai?" Psy asked. She knew exactly what the Nightmare Pokémon were capable of.

"Yep." Ace said. "A Darkrai. The most badass Dark type to exist."

"So" Shade asked, not feeling her headache anymore and having a little control over the Nightmares her aura was giving off. "How do I turn back to normal? People are gonna notice this, especially the Pokémon."

"Concentrate." Shadow said, walking over to Shade and putting her hand on Shade's head. "Breathe softly and focus on making yourself normal again."

"Allright." Shade said, closing her red eyes. She began to breathe softly, the effects wondrous. Her aura level lowered until it was just above her normal level. Her hair turned black again and lowered. Her eyes, which were still closed, turned back to their black blue mix. Psy and Pyro ran over to their friend, hugging her.

"I'm all right, guys." Shade said.

"Unless you're under a lot of stress." Shadow warned. "Just be calm and you'll be fine."

"But, what if I get angry?" Shade asked.

"Then just don't imagine yourself as the most terrifying demon to ever haunt this planet." Ace said. "And you'll be fine."

"I'm not sure that helps." Felicia pointed out.

"well." Ace said. "At any rate, we've got to get to the next city soon. It'll be dark soon and even though me and Shadow are used to the Darkness, you guys aren't except Felicia."

"But" Ace added, rubbing Maura's head, causing her to hum contentedly and nuzzle his arm. "I'm definitely not exposing Maura to the environment of Darkness. She's just an infant."

"Right." The others agreed, Maura giving a cheerful 'Amaura!'.

The group walked towards the town, getting halfway there when Ace randomly turned around and shot a Dark Blast behind him. Two sounds were heard after that: the first was the sound of the blast hitting something and the second was the sound of that object hitting a tree.

"did you hit it?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah." Ace said. "What do you think it was?"

"It had a Psychic trace." Shadow said. "It could have been a lot of Pokémon or Pokémorphs."

"So" Ace said. "it could have been from raZe Corp. Which would be a problem."

"Why do they want Shade?" Felicia said. "I mean she's a Pokémorph and all, but why would raZe Corp take her?"

"Probably because they knew what she was." Ace said. "Pokémorphs are, by instinct, prone to dress like their species. Shade dresses similar to me, so I figured she might have been one. That's why we decided to join you guys in the first place."

"So" Psy said, thinking it over. "You're a Darkrai too?"

"yep." Ace said. "But, I'm an Old Pokémorph."

"so" Pyro said. "We're just going to ignore the fact that our friend is now revealed to be something more than human altogether?"

"No." Ace said. "But, as long as Shade keeps her emotions in check, she should be able to stay at least somewhat human."

"What do you mean 'somewhat'?" Shade asked.

"You'll never be fully human" Shadow explained. "Because you never were. The fact that you can talk to Pokémon only adds to that. However, most Pokémon, even most Pokémorphs can't trace you if you don't use your powers or let your aura show."

"How do you think me and Shadow were here for so long without anyone noticing us?" Ace asked. "We have more power than almost every other being on this planet and no one noticed us."

"Well, we should still figure out a way to prevent her powers from coming out accidentally." Psy said. "It could be a problem if she got angry at someone and they surged."

"Well, I guess we could—" Ace began to say before he was cut off by Shade dropping to the ground in another headache. Her hair turned white again and her eyes turned red. She stood up and threw a powerful punch at Ace, who grabbed her fist and punched her right in the face, knocking her out. Her hair and eyes, however, stayed white and red respectively.

"What's going on now?" Psy asked. "I thought she gained control."

"Well." Shadow said. "She gained partial control. He powers are still manifesting themselves in her and she could be doing this for a while until her body adjusts to them."

"But" Felicia said, worried. "Can we prevent them from going out of control? I've heard that a Darkrai's Nightmare powers are uncontrollable."

"Well" Ace said. "That's not entirely true. See, some Darkrai don't care to keep their ungodly powers in check, thereby giving others nightmares without control or restraint. However, most do use their own power to keep their Nightmare capabilities from infecting others, but it makes them weaker."

"How much do you use?" Psy asked.

"Nine tenths." Ace said. Psy, Pyro, and Felicia's jaws dropped to the ground. He was at only one tenth of his power and he had just taken out Shade with one punch.

"So, how will we fix Shade?" Psy asked, worried for her best friend.

"We'll go inside her mind and seal her powers ourselves." Shadow said.

"What will that do?" Felicia asked.

"It will seriously put a check on her power." Ace said. "And will help her to not just enter that state by accident."

"That's good to know." Psy said.

"Very." Shadow said. "Now, come on Ace. Let's go before she wakes up."

"Right." Ace said, taking Shadow's hand.

"Wait." Psy said. "I want to go with you."

"No." Ace said. "You guys need to guard Shade and Maura. I'm not leaving either of them alone."

"Allright." Psy said, understanding. She stood next to her friends as Ace and Shadow put their hands on Shade's unconscious forehead. The others' eyes widened slightly as the two of them disappeared, entering Shade's mind.

 _In the Dark Recesses of the mind_

" _ **Well, I'm glad to see you're awake, Shadey."**_ The voice said to her as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around at her location.

"Wh-where am I?" Shade asked, her head hurting for some odd reason.

" _ **Why, you're in your head, my dear Shadey."**_ The voice said to her. The voice sounded familiar somehow, but Shade couldn't seem to place it.

"Wh-who are you?" Shade asked.

" _ **Call me Nightmare."**_ The owner of the voice said, stepping out into the light.

Shade gasped at the sight of the owner of the voice. She looked exactly like her save a few minor differences. Chief among those differences was her hair. It was as white as snow, the opposite of hers, and seemed to float. Her eyes were also different than hers, being a blazing red instead of a soft blue black. She also seemed to have a Darker aura than hers, if she even had an aura.

"Why am I here?" Shade asked.

" _ **Because I called you here."**_ Nightmare said, chuckling.

"Why?" Shade asked. "Why did you call me here?"

" _ **Because I'm taking control of this body."**_ Nightmare said.

"Why?" Shade asked.

" _ **Because I want to."**_ Nightmare said, laughing. _**"Besides, I make a better you than you do."**_

"What do you mean?" Shade asked, confused.

" _ **I've been in control since the raZe Corp incident."**_ Nightmare said, chuckling again. _**"And I pulled it off perfectly. Your friends don't even suspect a thing."**_

"I won't let you take my body." Shade said, standing up. She walked over to Nightmare, preparing to punch her strange doppelganger.

" _ **Foolish girl!"**_ Nightmare laughed, snapping her fingers. _**"You don't have a choice."**_

Four strands of a shadowy substance wrapped themselves around each of Shade's limbs. They stretched her out in an X shape, her feet a foot off of the ground.

"Let me go!" Shade shouted.

" _ **Sorry, I'm not under your authority."**_ Nightmare said, holding out her hand towards Shade, a Dark energy appearing in it.

"You can't kill me." Shade said. "You'll die too."

" _ **Actually"**_ Nightmare said. _**"Killing you is just like killing part of myself. I can live without it. Trust me, I have no problem tearing you limb from limb if I feel like it."**_

"You wouldn't" Shade said, horrified.

" _ **Try me."**_ Nightmare said, leaning in closer to Shade.

 _With Ace and Shadow_

"Does this remind you of anything?" Shadow asked her best friend as they walked down what resembled a hallway in Shade's mind.

"What do you mean?" Ace asked.

"Remember when we entered Bianca's mind?" Shadow asked.

"Yeah." Ace said, remembering. "Got me out of an awkward dance."

"I wanted to have that dance." Shadow said, putting on a mock whining voice.

"If it makes you feel better" Ace said, chuckling as he held his best friend's hand. "I'll dance with you later."

"Fine." Shadow said, a mischievous grin on her face. "But you better not hold out on me."

"Alright." Ace said, chuckling. "If you promise not to hold out on me."

"Fine." Shadow said. "But it's gonna have to wait."

"Naturally." Ace said. "Now, let's go find Shade before it's too late."

"What could happen?" Shadow asked.

"Remember she's a Darkrai." Ace said. "There could be several factors that are taking her."

"Right." Shadow said. "But, they wouldn't kill her would they?"

"It's a distinct possibility." Ace said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Then we should get there faster." Shadow said, a sense of urgency in her voice.

"Right." Ace said. The two Kyuryoon began to run as fast as they could, trying to find their friend in her own mind.

 _With Psy, Felicia, Pyro, and Maura_

"So" Felicia said, a little bored at this point. "What should we do while we watch her body?"

"One or two of us could go get something to eat." Pyro said, her stomach growling.

"We can't" Psy said. "Ace told us to stay here with Shade and Maura."

Maura was asleep on the ground and didn't respond.

"And?" Pyro said. "Me and Felicia could go and be back in five minutes."

"But, you're uncaught." Psy pointed out.

"So?" Felicia said.

"That means you're fair game." Psy said. "If we're together, we can stop trainers from catching us at all. Plus, I'm not at all capable of watching both an unconscious Shade and an infant Amaura."

"Fine." Pyro said, groaning. "We'll stay, but I'm hungry."

"We'll get something to eat after Ace and Shadow get back." Psy said, putting any further argument from the Flareon or the Halflit to rest. "Until then, we stay here and guard our friends."

"Kind of makes me wonder what kind of fighter Maura would grow up to be." Pyro said, Felicia nodding in agreement.

"I doubt Ace is going to let her fight any time soon." Psy said, rubbing Maura's head. "He may be a battle junkie, but I don't think he's going to teach an infant to fight."

"True." Felicia said. "But he is one of the toughest guys I've ever met. He's even taken on legendaries and won."

"Really?" Pyro and Psy asked, shocked. They knew Ace was tough, but they didn't think he was that level of strength.

"Yeah." Felicia said. "He told me that he and Shadow were legendaries back in their time."

"Shadow did say something about the legendaries of the past being stronger than the ones of this time." Psy said, thinking. "And that the current god was the brother of the god from their time. But, they never said they were actual legendaries."

"He told me." Felicia said. "When he saw Shadow's outfit."

"The one he got a nosebleed from?" Pyro asked, snickering.

"Yeah." Felicia said. "You should have seen it. She's not my type, but damn, she looked good."

"Ace doesn't seem like the type to notice things like that." Psy said.

"He sure noticed then." Felicia said, laughing.

"It must have been a pretty flashy dress." Pyro said.

"He said she wore it to prom." Felicia said.

"Interesting." Pyro said, her grin mischievous.

The three of them joked around for a few more minutes before Psy jolted upright.

"what was that?" She asked.

"What was what?" Felicia asked, not noticing anything.

"I thought I felt a different aura than any of ours." Psy said. "A hostile one."

"Trust me." Felicia said, reassuring her newest friend. "We can handle anything that comes our way."

"Oh, I don't think you should say 'anything'." A voice said, its owner stepping into view.

The three Pokémon stood up and got into fighting positions, ready to fight this person.

 _With Shade and Nightmare_

"You'd really kill me?" Shade asked, worried for her own fate.

" _ **Yeah."**_ Nightmare said, chuckling as she ran her fingers through Shade's hair. _**"I really would. You just get in my way, but I actually se no real reason to end you. That is, unless you resist me."**_

"Will you at least let me go?" Shade asked.

" _ **Sorry, kiddo."**_ Nightmare said, chuckling and stroking Shade's chin, her tone softer and strange. _**"You're too dangerous to be let out. I prefer to have you in my clutches where I can keep an eye on you."**_

"I'm getting really uncomfortable with this." Shade said. "Are you really an aspect of me?"

" _ **Oh, I'm you all right."**_ Nightmare said, chuckling. _**"I'm your darkest aspects manifested in this semi-physical forme. Every Darkrai has something like me. But, every Darkrai's Nightmare is different due to their differing personalities."**_

"I'm nothing like you." Shade said.

" _ **Oh, my dear Shadey."**_ Nightmare said, laughing. _**"I'm more like you than you'll ever realize."**_

"But, why are you doing this to me?" Shade asked, confused.

" _ **Because I can."**_ Nightmare said.

 _With Shadow and Ace_

"How will we know when we're there?" Ace asked his best friend, the two of them looking around to find a trace of Shade.

"I don't know." Shadow said. "This is different than Bianca's mind."

"You're right." Ace said. "Bianca knew we would come and set things up so that we could find her. Shade might not think we're coming and not prepare a way for us to find her."

"Well, shouldn't we be at the inner mind by now?" Shadow asked, curious.

"How the f #$ should I know?" Ace answered. "I've never been in here before."

"Touché." Shadow said, remembering. "Where do you think we are, though?"

"I thought you were keeping track." Ace said.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Shadow realized.

"Yep." Ace said. "But it looks like there's a door up ahead."

"I see it too." Shadow said, the two of them stopping in front of the door. Ace cautiously opened the door, gesturing Shadow inside.

"Thank you." She said as she walked into the door, Ace following behind her.

 _With Pyro, Psy, Maura, and Felicia_

"What do you want, Luna?" Pyro asked, showing her teeth and beginning to growl.

"I'm here for my little sister." Luna said, chuckling at the Flareon's attempts to intimidate her.

"Who's this bitch?" Felicia asked, not really threatened or worried of Luna's presence.

"That's Luna." Psy explained, getting into a fighting stance. "She's Shade's sister and the one that kidnapped Shade when we were in Vineberg last."

"Oh." Felicia said, turning her attention to Luna. "So, I guess that means you're the enemy, then?"

"If you're not going to hand her over" Luna said, summoning Psychic energy to her hand. "Then I guess I am."

"You won't get through us." Psy said, the three Pokémon standing in front of the pink clad girl.

"I don't have to." Luna said, chuckling. "I just have to make sure you don't get in my way."

"Bring it on, pinkie." Felicia challenged. "You can't beat the three of us."

"Oh, this is gonna be fun." Luna said, a gleam in her eyes.

 _With Ace and Shadow_

They entered the door to see Shade suspended by shadows which were controlled by what looked like the Nightmare version of herself.

"Shade!" Shadow called to the young Darkrai. "What's going on?"

"She's trying to take over my body." Shade answered.

"It's your body." Ace said. "Just take it back."

" _ **Don't listen to him."**_ Nightmare said, trying to silence Ace. _**"He has no idea what he's talking about."**_

"What do you mean?" Shade asked.

"You have full control here." Shadow said. "She just wants you to think she's taking control."

"Really?" Shade asked.

" _ **They're wrong."**_ Nightmare said. _**"I'm in complete control."**_

"No." Shade said, struggling against her restraints. "You're not."

" _ **Struggle all you want."**_ Nightmare said, laughing. _**"You'll never break those shadows."**_

As soon as Nightmare had finished uttering those words, Shade snapped all four restraints holding her. Nightmare's eyes widened as she began backing away from Shade.

"This is my mind." Shade said in a threatening tone, her aura becoming Darker. "And you have no place here."

Shade shot a Dark Blast out of her hand at Nightmare that shot her through the walls of the room.

"Nice." Ace said. "Now, the only way to keep her from coming back is to keep your emotions in check."

"What do you mean?" Shade asked.

"That means" Shadow explained. "If you experience extreme anger or passion, she'll resurface and act destructive and other things."

"Passion?" Shade asked, confused.

"Like romance." Ace explained. "If you're lips are making contact with some other guy's (and you're enjoying it), you could lose control."

"The reason passion and anger are the two emotions to watch out for" Shadow explained. "is because those are the two emotions that make you lose focus the easiest."

"So" Ace added. "Just don't get really mad without a good reason."

"Right." Shade said. "So, what are you two gonna do now?"

"Leave your mind." Shadow said.

"I'll send you out." Shade said. "I think something's going on outside."

"Thanks." Shadow said. Shade snapped her fingers, causing Ace and Shadow to disappear.

 _In the real world_

Luna was busy fighting with Felicia, Pyro, and Psy when Ace and Shadow reappeared and Shade woke up. Luna had already knocked Pyro out. Psy was near unconsciousness while Felicia was going toe to toe with her. Maura was rubbing Shade's head with hers, trying to get her to wake up.

"You're pretty good, Halflit." Luna said, actually having to put up a fight. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were on par with legendaries."

"you're not too bad yourself." Felicia said, panting a little.

"Luna!" Shade shouted, causing everyone conscious to look at her. Maura rubbed her hand with her head before moving over to Ace and nuzzling him.

"Well, well, well." Luna said, chuckling. "If it isn't my little sis, all awake. Let's get this over with and you come with me."

"Leave now!" Ace and Shadow shouted, both of them charging up a Dark Blast.

"Fine." Luna said as she left. "But, I'll be watching you. And I'll take you one of these days."

"Good riddance." Felicia said.

"So" Shade said, applying a Revive to Pyro and a Potion to Psy. "What'd I miss?"

"We fought your sister." Felicia said. "It was fun."

"I'll bet." Shadow said, but she didn't sound quite like herself.

"Shadow" Psy asked, looking at the Dark Empath with confusion. "Are you getting a cold or something?"

"No, why?" Ace said, not sounding like himself.

"Oh, holy sh!t." Shade, Psy, Pyro, and Felicia said.

"What?" Ace and Shadow asked, confused as to why their friends were looking at them funny.

* * *

well, it seems Ace and Shadow are having a rough day.

* * *

So, this chapter is to help segway into the other plot of the story (it's still a trainer fic, but i did say i was changing the rules). Okay, how many of you actually didn't see this coming? Well, I kind of wanted a mix of trainers, pokemon, and pokemorphs. It won't drastically change the fic, but it does help me get into all i wanted to do for this fic. Maybe it was too early, but i don't know.


	11. Body Switch

Chapter Seven: Body Switch/Kantoville

Shade, Pyro, and Felicia started snickering at their two newest friends. Psy giggled, but covered her mouth with her hand.

"What's so funny?" Ace asked, his voice coming from Shadow's body?

"Oh, nothing." Felicia said, trying and failing to hold in her laughter. "But, I have to ask: how do you feel?"

"Why?" Ace in Shadow's body asked, confused.

"Well" Pyro said, scrambling quickly to think up an excuse. "You did just enter someone else's mind. That's got to put some strain on your body."

"Well" Shadow in Ace's body said, focusing on herself so she could see her body's condition (a Psychic type skill that could be taught to others). "I'm in normal condition, but I feel a little bit heavier than normal (Ace weighs about forty pounds more than Shadow)."

"I feel a little lighter than normal." Ace in Shadow's body said, focusing on himself. "Also I feel off balance. Something is making me slightly heavier, particularly in my chest area."

Pyro and Felicia were rolling around on the ground as they laughed as hard as they could. Shade turned red in the face, but was bent over laughing and Psy was wiping away tears as she tried her hardest not to laugh at her friends, but the young Kirlia was failing miserably.

"Seriously" Shadow in Ace's body said, confused. "What's so funny? You guys have been laughing at us ever since we got out of Shade's mind."

"Nothing, nothing." Shade said, now trying to hold in her own laughter.

"Really?" Shadow in Ace's body said, stepping closer to the four beings. Pyro thought for a quick response.

"Ace!" she shouted. "There's something on your chest! You need to get it off!"

Shade smacked Pyro in the back of the head as Ace in Shadow's body put his hand up to his chest out of instinct.

"What is this?" he said, confused. "And why can I feel it?"

He looked down, seeing exactly what he was holding. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in shock. He let go as his breathing became shallow.

At this point Pyro, Shade, and Felicia were struggling to breathe due to the fact that they were laughing so hard. Shadow in Ace's body looked back at her best friend and gasped.

What she saw was her. Or more likely Ace in her body. She looked down at herself, realizing that she was in Ace's body. She began to look over her body to make sure it was actually Ace's. She summoned a mirror made of shadows and peered into it, realizing she truly was in Ace's body.

By this time Ace had recovered from his little shock and walked over to Shadow in his body.

"So" he said, his attention directed towards Shade and the others. "You think it's funny, do you?"

"No." Shade said, her and the others stopping their laughing and getting slightly worried looks on their faces.

"We think it's hilarious." Felicia said, the four of them laughing even harder, if that's even possible.

"But" Psy said, stopping her laughing. "We do need to try to find a way for you two to go back to normal."

"When did this happen?" Shade asked.

"When they exited your mind, dumbass." Felicia said.

"Oh" Shade said sheepishly. "Right."

"Well, it can't be so bad being in each other's bodies." Pyro said.

"I am a guy!" Ace in Shadow's body shouted. "I am in a woman's body. That's not natural!"

"And not to be rude" Shadow in Ace's body said. "But I hate being in a male body."

"Well" Shade said. "We have no idea how to change you back."

"Maybe my sister would know" Ace in Shadow's body said, thinking.

"Your sister?" Shade asked.

"Yeah." Ace in Shadow's body said. "You've met her."

"Please tell me it's not my mother." Shade said.

"No." Ace in Shadow's body said. "But, I'd be the badass uncle of the family if it was."

"Sorry." Shade said. "My uncle Alucard has that taken care of."

"His name is Alucard?" Shadow in Ace's body asked, curious. "What does he wear?"

"Red." Shade said. "Usually a trench coat and hat."

"Does he have guns?" Ace in Shadow's body asked, now intrigued.

"He has two pistols in his trench coat, I believe." Shade said.

"Awesome." Ace in Shadow's body said.

"So" Psy asked. "Who's your sister?"

"Hey guys." Darkora said, suddenly showing up in front of the group.

"hey, sis." Ace said from Shadow's body.

"She's your sister?" Shade asked.

"Yep." Ace in Shadow's body said. "Twins."

"Hi, um, Shadow?" Darkora said, confused and unsure of what to say at this point. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too." Shadow said from Ace's body.

"Wait." Darkora said, realizing something might be very wrong with her brother and his best friend. "What's going on here?"

"Well." Ace in Shadow's body said, trying to find the right way to say what he had to say. "Me and Shadow kind of switched bodies."

"HA!" Darkora laughed. After about ten seconds of laughing, she was bent over in half from laughing. After she stopped, she walked over to Ace in Shadow's body and put her arm around his neck.

"You should feel lucky." She said, her tone almost jokingly seductive, causing Shade, Pyro, Psy, and Felicia to snicker. "Not many guys have ever been in a girl's body. It must feel good."

"Oh, he felt it all right!" Felicia said, causing the other girls to laugh even harder and Ace and Shadow to blush. "And you should have seen the look on his face. Priceless."

"Why, Ace." Darkora said, her voice now in a definite joking tone. "You naughty boy."

"Jokes aside" Ace said, his tone serious. "Let's try to find a solution to this problem."

"Right." Darkora said, thinking. "Did the two of you enter someone's mind together?"

"Yeah." Shadow said. "Shade's."

"Well" Darkora said, thinking. "Every time more than one person enters the same mind, there's a chance they could switch bodies. When you entered Bianca's mind, there was no chance because Bianca was a powerful Psychic type and could prevent it, but Shade is inexperienced with Psychic powers and on top of that, she's just manifested her Pokémorph powers which she both has no idea how to use and even had no idea she had."

"Well, what's the easiest way to switch us back?" Ace asked. "Aside from entering someone else's mind, I mean?"

"Well" Darkora said, an idea coming to her. "We could link your bodies and try something with that."

"Darkora." Ace said, a look on his (well, technically Shadow's at this point) face that said 'really?'. "Do you remember what happened the last time me and Shadow linked our minds?"

"No." Darkora said, trying to remember.

"Do you remember what the biggest fight Shadow and I were ever involved in was?" Ace asked.

"Was it the one with…?" Darkora trailed off, remembering.

"Exactly." Ace said. "We're not unleashing that monster back into the world again without good reason."

"Right." Darkora said, thinking. "We could use a Manaphy's Heart Swap ability?"

"Where are we going to find one?" Shadow asked. "It's not like in our time when we lived with one. They might not even exist anymore."

"Good point." Darkora said. "But, in my time working with the professor and in my other job, I've heard sightings of a Water Pokémon that has antennae somewhere out near Dragonsdale."

"That's on the other side of the damn map!" Ace said, expressing his opinion of that idea.

"We can use Shadow Force." Shadow reminded her best friend in her body.

"We've never been to Dragonsdale." Ace reminded his best friend in his body. "Shadow Force only works on places we've been to."

"Oh yeah." Shadow said, remembering. "Well, there goes that idea."

"You guys can use Shadow Force?" Felicia asked. "I thought the only beings that could use Shadow Force were the Death Gods."

"Who do you think taught us?" Ace asked, grinning with Shadow's face.

"Giros?" Psy guessed.

"Who the f #$ is Giros?" Ace asked.

"Giros is the current Death God." Darkora explained.

"Oh." Ace said. "No, he wasn't even around when we were growing up. We were trained by Giratina."

Shade and the rest of the group gasped. Giratina was regarded as the most powerful Death God. To be trained by him was said to be an achievement.

"Giratina trained you guys?" Psy asked.

"Well" Shadow said. "He did some, but Arcey trained us mostly."

"Arcey?" Pyro asked. "As in Arceus?"

"Yeah." Ace said. "She was practically a mother to us."

"Woah!" the group gasped again. Arceus was regarded as the most powerful of the gods, the leader of the Hall of Origin (when it still existed).

"Yep" Ace said, sighing with Shadow's lungs. "We had some fun in the Hall of Origins."

"It's too bad the Hall doesn't exist anymore." Darkora said.

"What do you mean?" Ace and Shadow asked.

"The Hall was destroyed." Pyro said. "In the Great Cataclysm."

"Great Cataclysm?" Ace and Shadow asked.

"I read about it in the Kantoville library." Darkora said. "It was a war fought with unknown combatants for an unknown reason. Afterwards, most of Sinnoh was wiped out. I took a look at the place where the Hall was, but there was nothing there. It was destroyed."

"Arkorean is pretty far from Sinnoh." Shade said. "When were you there?"

"I can teleport." Darkora said.

"Oh." Shade said, shrugging her shoulders.

"So" Ace said. "Back to the problem at hand. How do we fix the little predicament me and Shadow have gotten ourselves into?"

"We could check out the Kantoville library." Darkora suggested. "It might provide us some clues as to how to reverse the process."

"Cool!" Shade said, an idea popping into her head. "It'll be just like Scooby Doo. We even have a pet: Maura!"

"Yep." Ace said. "Except there are real monsters in this one."

"Well" Darkora said, beginning to walk towards the town. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Darkora started to walk to Kantoville, the others following her. They entered Kantoville, looking around at the city.

"This place is frickin' huge!" Pyro shouted, taking in the sights.

"Amaura!" Maura said, most likely in agreement.

"Meh." Ace said. "Seen bigger. Not impressed."

"The library's just over there." Darkora said, pointing to a large building with lots of windows. "We should hurry in case they close."

"Right." The group said as they walked towards the library. Maura gave a cheerful 'Amaura!'.

When they were about twenty feet from the library, a group of guys walked up to them, standing near Ace in Shadow's body.

"Hey there." One of them said, stepping closer to Shadow (Ace in Shadow's body). "How'd you like to hang with us?"

"No thanks." Ace in Shadow's body said with a slightly feminine voice, almost ignoring them. "You're not my type."

"Well, then." The guy said, slicking his hair back. "What is your type?"

"Less bitchy." Ace said plainly. Shade and the others were snickering at this point.

"You know what?" the guy said, taking hold of Ace's (technically Shadow's) arm. "I'm not really in the mood for this."

"Funny." Ace in Shadow's body said, pulling the guy's arm off of him and crushing his hand. The guy's expression went from irritated to extreme pain in less than a second. His friends were shocked at this girl (they didn't know Ace and Shadow had switched bodies and also Shadow doesn't look very powerful at first glance) "Neither am I."

"Wh-what are you?" the guy asked, finally pulling his hand away from Ace (well, actually, Ace let it go).

"What's wrong?" Ace said, chuckling insanely. "Never met a girl stronger than you?"

"He's really playing this up, isn't he?" Felicia asked Darkora.

"Well" Darkora said, shrugging. "Shadow is just as strong as Ace, so he's not wrong there. Also, he's teaching them not to mess with Shadow."

"Well" Shade said, looking at the other guys' expressions. "I'd say that they're learning well."

"Now." Ace in Shadow's body said, his voice returning to its normal octave. "If I see any one of you guys pulling something like this again, I'll personally escort you straight to the Distortion World."

The guys got very scared looks on their faces as they turned around and ran away from Ace in Shadow's body.

"That should solve that problem." Ace said, wiping his hands together.

"You didn't have to do that." Shadow said.

"Shadow." Ace said, putting his hand on his best friends (technically his) shoulder. "I haven't been a single good fight since we got here. I needed that."

"True." Shadow said, sighing. "I guess you did need something to use some rage on."

"Well" Darkora said, entering the library. "Let's find a way to change you two hopeless romantics back to normal."

"At least I can find a date." Ace said, following his sister into the library, the others following behind them. Maura began nuzzling Shadow's hand (with Ace occupying her body), realizing that Ace was in Shadow's body (she'd imprinted on Ace).

 _Kantoville Library—main floor_

"What section should we look in first?" Ace asked from Shadow's body.

"Just look around." Darkora said.

"Whatever." Ace said.

Ace, Shadow, and Maura went to the "legends" section. Shade, Pyro, and Psy went to the "supernatural" section. Darkora and Felicia went to the "movedex" section (basically the section that tells moves, data, and minor facts about Pokémon).

 _With Ace, Shadow, and Maura—legends section_

"This book looks interesting." Shadow said, pulling a book off of the shelf. The cover read 'Lore of the Hero'.

"Lore of the Hero" Ace read the cover. "Interesting. What's it about?"

"I'm guessing some kind of hero." Shadow said, opening the book.

"Excuse me, sir and ma'am." A librarian said, walking up to the three of them. "But, we do not allow Pokémon in this library."

Ace in Shadow's body turned around. He looked at the librarian with confusion.

"I don't see any Pokémon." He said, making his voice feminine so as not to attract unwanted attention as he turned back around. "All I see is three friends looking for a book."

"just" the librarian said, quickly realizing she'd get nowhere with this argument. "Make sure it doesn't cause trouble."

"I'm sure **she** won't." Ace said in his normal voice (he was turned around so the librarian couldn't tell he (in Shadow's body) was the one who had said it.

"Fine." The librarian said, walking away.

"That was annoying." Ace said. "Now, let's look at this book."

"Amaura!" Maura agreed cheerfully. The three of them opened the book to see what looked like lore.

" _Since the beginning of time, the Darkness has battled the Balance for the fate of the universe"_ Shadow read. _"The cycle ever going. During the greatest war of the Darkness and the Balance, two Heroes were born. The Heroes defeated the foes in front of them, protecting the universe. The Heroes became great and powerful, facing the Balance and putting an end to it for the duration of their lives. However, after the Heroes passed on from the world, a new Hero rose up to face the Balance, two others by its side. And so the cycle continued."_

"Hmm." Ace thought. "That sounds more like a prophesy than a lore."

"Right." Shadow said. "But, it's odd that the 'Balance' is the foe instead of the 'Darkness'."

"Right." Ace said. "It must be referring to something. But I can't figure out what."

"I just had an idea." Shadow said.

"What?" Ace asked.

"We could do "that"." Shadow suggested.

"Alright." Ace said, shrugging Shadow's shoulders. The two of them took each other's hands and took a deep breath, ready to try their technique.

 _With Darkora and Felicia—movedex section_

"Why are we in this section of the library?" Felicia asked Darkora, confused as to why the female Darkrai had walked into the "movedex" section of the library.

"Because" Darkora explained herself. "If we're going to find a move to change them back, it's most likely going to be in here."

"I thought you said something about Heart Swap?" Felicia asked.

"Unfortunately" Darkora said. "It's only usable by a Manaphy or Phione. It can't be taught to any other Pokémon. Truth is, it's one of the few 'signature' moves that can't be learned by another Pokémon, the others being Judgement, Spatial Rend, and Roar of Time."

"Wait" Felicia said, thinking. "Isn't Shadow Force on that list also?"

"Well" Darkora said. "It would be (and it is by human standards), but both Ace and Shadow know it because Giratina taught them."

"Hmm." Felicia said, thinking.

"Wait" Darkora said, pulling a book off of the shelf. "This should be in the "legends" section."

"What book is it?" Felicia asked. She looked at the title, but found herself unable to read it (normally Pokémon can read human text).

"This title" Darkora said, studying the characters (apparently she couldn't read it either). "From what I've learned from working with Professor Evergreen, I can translate this title to mean 'Dragonica'."

"Dr-dragon?" Felicia asked, now nervous.

"You're afraid of Dragons?" Darkora asked.

"Yeah" Felicia admitted. "I know I shouldn't be, but a Dragon type is what killed my mother."

"that's so sad." Darkora said.

"All I have left to remember her by" Felicia said, pulling out the stone she had shown Ace. "is this stone."

"That's a pretty stone." Darkora said. She looked closely at the stone, noticing a few characters (symbols) on the stone.

"Thanks." Felicia said. "I don't know what the symbols on it mean, though."

"It resembles the text that says 'Dragonica'." Darkora said. Felicia looked at the stone.

"Here." Darkora said, putting some string through a small hole in the stone. She then tied the stone around Felicia's neck, making the stone a necklace.

"Thanks." Felicia said.

"Well" Darkora said. "You couldn't keep it in your hair forever, could you?"

"Guess not." Felicia said, shrugging. "So, what's the book say about the Dragonica?"

"It's said" Darkora said, opening the Dragonica book. "That the Halflit might have worshipped them in ancient times."

"What else does the book say?" Felicia asked, now curious.

"It says" Darkora said, reading the book quickly (more like flipping through it and looking at the pictures). "That the Dragonica were among the most powerful Dragon types to exist, the only more powerful ones being legendaries. They were capable of wreaking mass havoc over the civilizations and were feared by almost every species."

"They sound very intimidating." Felicia said. "Which sounds awesome."

"Well" Darkora said. "Not if you were the target of their wrath. They were capable of completely annihilating a village with a single ranged attack. They were also capable of breaking a mountain with one punch. No non-legendary Pokémon could stand up to them as equals."

"Could you stand up to a Dragonica?" Felicia asked.

"Probably not." Darkora said. "I'm not quite legendary class. Now Ace or Shadow on the other hand…"

"Just how powerful are Ace and Shadow?" Felicia asked.

"Well" Darkora said, thinking. "They're two of the most powerful beings that I've ever met."

"That's not saying much to me." Felicia said. "I've not very many powerful beings. Most of the humans around here are weak. I may look like a human—"

"A short human with a severe case of bipolarity" Darkora joked.

"Whatever." Felicia said, ignoring Darkora. "But, I've not met many powerful humans. Ace might be one of the first."

"Well" Darkora said. "Let me tell you about Ace and Shadow's biggest fight…"

 _With Shade, Pyro, and Psy_

"Why are we in this section?" Psy asked as Shade led them to the "supernatural" section.

"Because." Shade explained. "If there's a spell that could switch their minds back, then this place might have it."

"But you don't know anyone who can use spells." Pyro said. "Also, this holds way too many supernatural references to know exactly what our problem is."

"True." Shade said. "But, let's take a chance anyway."

 _Fifteen minutes later_

"Damn it!" Shade shouted. "I can't find a damn thing!"

"Oh well." Pyro said. "I guess we could see how the others are doing."

"Fine." Shade said, frustrated.

 _With the others_

Shade, Pyro and Psy met the others in the main area of the library. Once they had all gathered, Darkora walked over to the body of Shadow.

"Well, Ace." Darkora said, in a mock hurt, pouty. "I couldn't find a book for you. I guess you're stuck in your attractive girlfriend's body for a while."

"Better get used to it." She said, wrapping her arms around Shadow's body's neck. "I know you want to."

"Oh, Darkora." Shadow said from her body. "you think I'm attractive. Well, I'm flattered, but, I'm already spoken for."

Darkora let go of Shadow pretty quickly.

"How did you get back to normal?" She asked.

"We used Psychic powers." Ace said.

"We actually got lucky." Shadow said. "It probably wouldn't work again."

"Well." Darkora said. "Since this problem is solved, let's go to Rustown to get Shade's next badge."

"I'm game for that." Shade said, everyone agreeing with her. Maura even added a cheerful 'Amaura'.

The eight friends walked out of the library and off to their next adventure in Rustown.

* * *

well, they got their bodies back. How did they do it? They'll talk about it next chapter.


	12. Rustown Part One: Entry

Chapter Eight: Rustown Part One: Entry

"Man, it feels good to be back in my own body." Ace said, stretching his arms.

"You only switched bodies for about five hours." Darkora reminded him.

"Well, still." Ace said. "It was kind of awkward being in Shadow's body."

"I'll bet." Darkora said, moving up to Ace and speaking in a seductive voice.

"It must have been so hard" she said, rubbing Ace's chest. "being in such an attractive body with such delicious curves. I'll bet you want them."

"Oh, he already got them." Felicia said, causing Psy, Pyro, and Shade to snicker, even though Shade lightly smacked Felicia in the back of the head.

Both Ace and Shadow blushed slightly. Ace removed Darkora's hands from his chest, taking a step back from the female Darkrai.

"That's really weird, Darkora." Ace said.

"Oh, admit it." Darkora said, her tone normal again. "You'd want to get really close to her."

"You know why I can't." Ace said.

"That's a pretty sh!tty excuse." Darkora said.

"It's not because I'm worried for her." Ace said, his voice a little louder. "She's immune. It's everyone else I'm worried about."

"You really need to get your priorities straight." Darkora said.

"No." Ace said. "You need to understand that Shadow and I are doing what we're doing for others' safety, not our own pleasure."

"You're not making any sense." Darkora said.

"I'm making perfect sense!" Ace shouted. "You're the one who's making stupid arguments!"

"Well" Darkora countered. "You're the one who's taking this relationship thing a little too slow. I'll bet you and Shadow haven't done anything more than make out behind a tree."

Shade, Pyro, Psy, and Felicia looked at Ace with confused expressions on their faces. Ace and Shadow blushed slightly.

"Yeah" Darkora said, a smirk on her face. "We know that you two do it. But, you're taking it waaaay too slow."

"We'll take at our own pace." Shadow said.

"You know what?" Ace said, groaning. F #$ it! I'm going to have this argument with you where we can talk in peace."

With that, Ace shot Darkora with a Dark Void, the Dark portal opening beneath the female Darkrai. She sank into it, Ace following. Shadow followed him as the portal closed behind them.

Shade, Pyro, Felicia, and Psy simply stood there, looking where their friends had been.

"Should we wait?" Felicia asked.

"Yeah." Shade said, shrugging. "They'll be back when they're done with their argument."

 _In the Dark Void_

"What do you mean 'go further with our relationship'?" Ace shouted at his sister.

"You know what I mean." Darkora said, shouting back. Shadow's face was slightly redder from embarrassment while Ace's was slightly redder from irritation and anger. "You can't tell me you two haven't even considered it!"

"That has nothing to do with it!" Ace shouted.

"You and I both know that you two have considered it!" Darkora retorted.

"We weren't discussing that!" Ace shouted.

"Then what's the problem?!" Darkora shouted.

"You and I both know why we can't!" Ace shouted at his twin.

"Nothing's stopping you here!" Darkora shouted.

"We are not doing that!" Ace shouted back at his sister. Shadow was simply standing there, trying not to get dragged into the argument.

"And why not!?" Darkora argued. "Is it because you're scared or what?!"

"I'm not arguing this point with you, Darkora!" Ace shouted. "What we do with our lives is really none of your business!"

"Well" Darkora shouted again at her brother. "I don't want you to end up like you've never really gone wild with your lives!"

"We are not going to go wild!" Ace asked. "Like I said earlier, what we do with our lives, especially our private lives, is none of your business! Remember that I can barely get a kiss without my hair turning white."

"Guys." Shadow said, stepping in between Ace and Darkora. "I think we need to stop."

"Why?" Darkora asked.

"Because" Shadow said, her voice still level and quiet. "I don't think it's really the best time to talk about this. Ace and I really aren't ready for anything of that degree yet and we'd like you to respect that. Also, like Ace said, he has to maintain control of his powers."

"Fine." Darkora sighed. "I'll respect your wishes."

"Good." Shadow said, smiling. "Now, let's get one thing straight, Darkora: we go at our pace, not yours."

"Got it." Darkora said, nodding. She wasn't going to get into a fight with Shadow. Her brother yes, but not Shadow.

"We are dating" Shadow said. "Unofficially."

"Whatever." Darkora said. "I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy." Ace said.

"I understand." Darkora said. "Now, let's head back to the outside world. They're probably wondering what we're talking about."

"Right." Ace and Shadow said. Ace snapped his fingers, causing the three of them to return to the outside world.

 _In the outside world_

"They've been in there a while." Shade said. "Think they're alright?"

"I'm sure they're fine." Psy said.

"What were they talking about?" Pyro asked.

"I don't care." Felicia said. "I want to get to Rustown soon. I'm bored."

"Me too." The others agreed.

Suddenly, a portal appeared right in front of them, Ace, Shadow, and Darkora walking out of it.

"You guys sure took a while." Pyro said.

"We needed to have a talk." Ace said.

"Was it about you switching bodies?" Shade asked. "You know, since it's what we've been talking about for a while."

"No." Ace said. "Nothing like that. We're over that."

"Not quite." Shade said. "Something doesn't add up. How did you guys switch back?"

"We used a different version of Heart Swap." Ace said. "Manaphy taught us a trick like Heart Swap back when we were about sixteen. We figured that we'd put it to the test."

"One more thing." Felicia said, looking at Shadow. "I know you're a Gardevoir, but how come you have almost completely black hair? And your aura is Dark. But Gardevoir are part Angel type, but you have no Angel type in your aura."

"I'm a Dark Gardevoir." Shadow explained. "When Ace and I were very young, we underwent a ritual that made us Dark beings. We are referred to as Kyuryoon, which is a term meaning "Darkling" or "Demon". My hair is black because both of my parents had black hair, despite being Gardevoir and Gallade (we followed the law of genetics just like you guys). The green is from highlights I got."

"That was a long explanation." Shade said. "But, it makes some sense."

"Well, you could've summarized it." Darkora said.

"How?" Shade asked. "I don't think she could have said that in any less words."

"There are ways." Darkora said. "Now, the important thing is to make it to Rustown. However, I will have to bid you a temporary farewell when we get to Rustown."

"Why?" Shade asked.

"I have to get back to my job." Darkora said.

"Oh." Shade said. "Well, good luck helping the professor."

"I'll have great luck." Darkora said. "And I'll enjoy my other job as well."

"Other job?" Ace asked. "What other job?"

"I'm sort of a professional trainer." Darkora said.

"Oh." Ace said, understanding. Darkora nodded and the seven friends (eight including Maura) continued on their journey.

 _Just outside of Rustown_

"Well" Darkora said as the gang stood outside of Rustown. "I'll be seeing you guys later."

"Bye, Darkora." They said, giving their goodbyes to their Dark friend.

"I'll see you guys later." She said, snapping her fingers and teleporting away.

"Something doesn't make sense here." Felicia said, thinking.

"What?" Shade asked.

"If Pokémorphs supposed to hide" Felicia said, her tone confused. "Then why do you guys sometimes use your powers right out in the open? And why do you talk to us like you can understand us when you have to hide it?"

"Well" Shadow explained. "You'd be surprised how many people ignore those that talk to Pokémon or just don't care."

"I actually have noticed that." Psy said. "But I didn't say anything because I was busy focusing on our task."

"Well, it's an easily overlooked fact." Ace said. "But, good job noticing."

"Well" Shade said. "Let's go get that third badge."

Maura gave a cheerful 'Amaura' to signify her agreement and enthusiasm.

"Allright!" Felicia shouted. "Let's go take on that gym! I've been waiting to get into a good fight."

"This one" Shade said, pulling out a town guide she'd gotten at the library in Kantoville. "Is run by Champa. He's a Fighting Type leader. That will be pretty good for us since we've got Psy, who has a double advantage."

"Don't count this is a win just yet." Psy said. "We don't know how powerful his Pokémon are yet. He could have Pokémon far more powerful than us."

"You've got me." Felicia said, cracking her knuckles. "I can help you get a win from this guy."

"You guys have this." Ace said. "Me, Maura and Shadow are going to check out the town while you battle. Don't get kidnapped again and we'll meet you in front of the mart."

"Got it." Shade said, laughing a little at the joke. "We'll be back in less than two hours, accounting for a drawn out battle. Just don't take too much time showing off for Ace in the clothes department."

"Yeah right." Shadow said, giggling. "I've only got one outfit that gets a nice reaction out of Ace and it's not something I like to just whip out."

"Oh." Shadow, Pyro, and Felicia said, snickering, knowing the outfit. "It's only for those special occasions, right?"

"Yeah." Shadow said, not picking up on where the three girls were going with the statement, despite the heavy emphasis they put on the word 'special'. "It's a little too formal for everyday wear. Besides, I can't really pull off even a casual dress as good as pants anyway."

"So" Psy said, a mischievous smile on her face. "A dress is too formal for you?"

"Yeah." Shadow said. "Especially in combat. But I can fight in heels though."

"Well" Shade said, pulling her Pokémon hastily away from the two Kyuryoon (Maura didn't come—technically, she was Ace's Pokémon (but, she wouldn't leave Ace anyway)). "We wouldn't want to keep you two away from your **alone time** , now would we?"

Pyro and Felicia snickered at the emphasis Shade had put on 'alone time'. They knew exactly what she meant. Ace and Shadow did as well, but they chose to ignore it. Maura was the only one who didn't know what the new Pokémorph meant (but she was too young to understand it anyway).

"Later then." Ace said, him, Shadow, and Maura heading toward the mart while Shade, Pyro, Psy, and Felicia went towards the gym.

 _With Ace, Maura, and Shadow_

The two Kyuryoon and the Icy Sail Pokémon walked into the mart. Shadow immediately dragged Ace to the clothing department (not due to stereotypical female instinct, but because she wanted to grab Ace a shirt or two and wanted him to try a couple of them on—some of them were for her own humor).

"Here." She said, handing Ace a black shirt with the Crobatman symbol on the front. "I need you to try this on."

"But" Ace said, confused. "I thought you already got us shirts and other clothes."

"I accidentally grabbed the wrong size." Shadow said. "They put the ones I grabbed in the wrong section, so I grabbed them thinking they'd fit you, but they were too small."

"How'd you not notice that?" Ace asked his best friend. She normally didn't make errors like that.

"I misjudged" Shadow said, leaning on Ace and tracing her finger around his chest, her voice in a half seductive tone. "the size of your chest. It's much more muscular than I remember."

"Funny." Ace said, his tone joking. "That's what Cressa said the last time I saw her."

"Yeah." Shadow said, leaning even closer to Ace, pushing him back a little. "She had no idea what she was trying to get. I, however, know exactly what's under this shirt and that tough exterior of yours."

"Of course you know." Ace said, trying to keep his balance, but at the same time pulling Shadow closer. "You're the one that helped me set up the tough exterior."

"And I love every bit of it." Shadow said, her motion pushing Ace onto a nearby bench.

"Well, thank you." Ace said, figuring out Shadow's little game. "I love every little bit of you as well."

"Well, thank you." Shadow said, giggling as she stood up, her tone normal.

"Now." Ace said, putting his arm around Shadow and his other arm on Maura's head, the Icy Sail Pokémon still nuzzling Ace's side. "Let's go check out the rest of this mart."

The three of them walked until they reached a food court. They walked in and got themselves some food. Walking to a table, they sat down, Maura standing next to the table.

Ace put some of the food he'd gotten for Maura in his hand. He held it out to Maura, who ate it from his hand, giving a cheerful 'Amaura' when she was done. She nuzzled Ace's hand and made a noise similar to a cat's purr.

"She really likes you, doesn't she?" Shadow asked, giggling.

"Yeah" Ace said, rubbing Maura's soft, smooth head. It felt cold to his touch, but he was used to lower temperatures. "She really does."

"It's one of your best qualities." Shadow said, leaning closer to Ace. Ace put his elbow on the table and leaned a little closer to Shadow. They stared into each other's eyes, their bodies beginning to heat up. Ace felt himself being pushed from behind by some unknown force, causing him to fall lips first into Shadow. Their lips met in the middle, causing them both to gasp slightly. But, they continued with the kiss, enjoying it.

When they ceased their contact, they pulled back and looked at each other, simply staring.

" _Wow!"_ they both thought simultaneously as their faces turned as red as the scarf that Ace wore.

"That…" Ace said, not finishing the sentence.

"I know." Shadow said, feeling the same thing. "That was incredible. And your hair didn't even turn white."

"Well" Ace said, struggling to find the right words to say. "With you I have complete control."

"We should still be careful." Shadow said.

"Yeah." Ace said. "But right now, I'm hungry. Let's eat."

"Agreed." Shadow said. Ace put what he had gotten for Maura, some Poképuffs, and put them in a bowl on the edge of the table. Maura gave a cheerful 'Amaura!' and began to eat. Ace and Shadow pulled out the burgers they had gotten and began to open them.

"Dammit!" Ace said, looking at his food. "They put onions in mine!"

"This one doesn't have onions." Shadow said, looking inside her burger. "I think we switched burgers."

"Right." Ace said. "Mine doesn't have mustard, your preference."

The two of them switched sandwiches, resuming their meal. Once the three of them had finished, they began to look around the mart, finding a store that sold comic books. They all walked inside, Ace heading over to the Action section with Maura and Shadow heading over to the Adventure section.

"Sweet!" Ace exclaimed, pulling out a manga from the shelf. "They have the latest issue of Dark Dragon's Wrath!"

The cover of the manga had what looked like a Zweilous in human forme facing off against what looked like a Tyranitar in human forme. A girl that was nearly transparent was inside a glass case behind the Tyranitar, looking worried for the Zweilous.

"Amaura?" Maura asked, not understanding what Ace was talking about.

"It's about a Deino" Ace explained to the Icy Sail Pokémon. "that is training to avenge the death of his sister. He battles all kinds of strong enemies, eventually evolving into Zweilous to try to take on his sister's killer, a powerful Tyranitar. However, the Tyranitar is more powerful than him and nearly kills him. He's been training hard to match him, but it' been a hard journey. Recently, he learned that the Tyranitar had taken his sister's soul and was using it to empower himself. He became angry and confronted the Tyranitar, the Tyranitar nearly killing him again. Then he heard his sister's voice, which made him angry enough to gain a huge burst of power. A bright light shone around him and the issue ended. Now I can finally see if the fight's going to end."

"Amaura." Maura said, understanding. Shadow walked around to see what Ace had found. She looked at the cover.

"Nice." She said, standing next to Ace. "I've been waiting for that one too."

"Did you find anything?" Ace asked, tucking the manga under his arm.

"I found the latest issue of Sailor Cress." Shadow said, holding up the manga in her hand.

The cover of the manga had what resembled a Cresselia in human forme holding a wand that had a moon on the end of it. There was a translucent Cresselia behind her, extending from her shadow.

"Sweet." Ace said. "I've been wanting to see how that fight ended for an entire month."

"Me too." Shadow said. The two of them walked up to the counter, paying for their mangas and walking out of the store.

"Hold on." Ace said, stopping in his tracks.

"You sense it too?" Shadow asked her best friend.

"Yeah." Ace said. "We need to get Shade fast."

"Right." Shadow said, the two of them using Shadow Force to teleport to another location, taking Maura with them.

 _With Shade, Pyro, Psy, and Felicia_

"Time to wreck this sh!t!" Felicia shouted as the four of them stood outside of the gym.

"Let's do it!" Pyro shouted, the two of them taking off toward the gym's entrance.

"Slow down, you two!" Shade shouted at the energetic Pokémon. "I'm the one who has to register us for the gym."

"It's time to break some bones!" Felicia shouted at the rookie trainer, making it to the door.

"Let's do it!" Pyro shouted, following the Halflit.

Shade and Psy made it to the gym door, the four of them entering the door. Inside, a man with a cloak on that covered his face was standing on the other side of the room. When Shade entered the room, the man looked at her for about thirty seconds before moving up to her and grabbing her arms.

"Excuse me." Shade said, surprised by the sudden movement of the man. "But, please let me go."

" _ **you and I need to have a talk."**_ The man said, his voice ominous and chilling. _**"about your destiny."**_

"My what?" Shade asked before the man opened a portal and shoved her into it. He followed her, the portal remaining open.

"Shade!" Psy shouted, trying to follow her, but Felicia pulled her back.

"That portal" Felicia said, holding the struggling Kirlia. "Is putting out a field that can repulse and kill something with ten times the power you have."

"My best friend is in there!" Psy yelled, thrashing. "I'm not gonna let her be in there without me trying to save her!"

"I'll go get Ace." Pyro said. "He'll know what to do."

"I'm right here." Ace said, him, Shadow, and Maura rising up from the shadows. "What happened?"

"Shade's in that portal." Psy said, pointing at the portal. "A man took her in there and now we can't get her out."

"The portal has a field that can kill most beings." Felicia said.

"I'm not most people." Ace said, him and Shadow walking up to the portal.

"What are you going to do?" Pyro asked.

"Get our friend back." Shadow said as the two Kyuryoon stepped into the portal.

* * *

Who is the man? And what does he want with Shade? Find out next chapter.


	13. Rustown Part Two: Destiny

A/N: okay, i have to apologize deeply for putting this fic off for too long. I've been wanting to come back to this, but haven't been able to. I am back now and will upload more (not as regularly as before, but more than recently). Don't worry, i still remember what i'm doing with the plot, so it'll still be the same.

* * *

Chapter Nine: Rustown Part Two: Destiny

 _With Shade_

Shade landed on her hands and knees on the ground inside the portal. The man walked behind her, using Psychic powers to yank her to her feet.

"Get up." He said, turning her around. Shade looked into the man's eyes, becoming intimidated by them.

"Who are you?" She asked, slowly taking steps backwards from him.

"I'm someone you should know very well." The man said, walking closer to Shade.

"And who would that be?" Shade asked.

"Your father." The man said, pulling off his hood.

Shade gasped. He did look exactly like her father. He had black hair like her father, green eyes like him, even his tough demeanor.

"D-dad?" Shade asked, shocked at the revelation that the man who had shoved her into this portal was her father. "What are you doing here?"

"It's time I told you a few things." Her father said, sighing. "Some things that even your mother doesn't know."

"Like what?" Shade asked, curious.

"Like" her father said, trying to figure out the words to say. "What you are and what you're meant to do."

"What am I meant to do?" Shade asked.

"Well" her father began to say before he was cut off by two figures entering the portal. One of them was dressed in black and the other in white.

"Shade, we're he—" Ace said before his eyes settled on Shade's father. Shadow's eyes also settled on Shade's father, who was looking at them with confusion as to how they had entered the portal.

"How did you enter the portal?" he asked, taking a step nearer to them.

It was at this moment that Shade noticed something she never thought she'd notice in Ace and Shadow's eyes: fear. Their eyes were wide and their breathing had become shallow, apparently from the sight of her father.

"Z-Z-Zyg—" Ace began to say before Shade's father began to speak.

"I don't know how you entered my portal." He said. "I put a field around it. Now, explain yourselves."

"How did you survive?" Ace growled, having regained his composure, Shadow as well. Ace now stood in a combat stance, Shadow also getting in one.

"I have no idea what you are referring to." Shade's father said.

"We killed you!" Ace shouted, summoning Dark energy to his fists.

"Wait" Shade's father said, looking Ace and Shadow up and down. "So you're the two Kyuryoon. I was wondering when you would show up."

"Let Shade go, Zygarde!" Ace growled.

"I'm not doing her any harm." Shade's father, apparently Zygarde, said, a smug look on his face. "And the name's Enviro."

"I don't care." Ace said. "We killed you once and we can kill you again."

"There are things about our fight that you do not understand." Zygarde (technically Enviro) said, not flinching. "I must explain them to the three of you before I tell Shade of her own destiny."

"Like?" Ace asked, confused.

"Zygarde's soul passes to its next body when defeated." Enviro explained. "The corruption spreads to a descendant of Zygarde and grants them the power of Zygarde, but turns them into an evil monster. There is a line dedicated to Zygarde, giving him plenty of souls to take. While you did defeat the original and most powerful, you didn't completely destroy his soul, which gave him a chance to escape."

"But" Shadow said, thinking. "If the new Zygarde is anywhere near as powerful as the one we fought, then Shade might be screwed."

"Explain." Enviro said.

"We had to become Darkevoir to stop him." Shadow said. "Though, if Zygarde's aura hadn't weakened it, it would have been even stronger. But, Shade can't do that, can she?"

"I doubt it." Enviro said.

"Wait" Ace said, something coming to mind. "If you're not the Zygarde of this time, then who is?"

"I'm not sure." Enviro said. "But, I need you to protect Shade and prepare her to fight the Zygarde because I know you're forbidden to fight in this war."

"Trust me." Ace said, his tone grave. "If we need to step in, we will."

"Do you really think Arcen will let you?" Enviro asked.

"Do you really think he's powerful enough to do anything about it?" Ace countered.

"Touché." Enviro said.

"Hold on a minute." Shade said, cutting in. "I want to have a decision in this."

"What do you mean?" Enviro asked.

"I don't want to be this 'warrior' you're trying to get me to become." Shade said, her voice firm. "I'm a trainer and that is what I want to be. I want to travel with Pyro, Psy, Felicia and others and get the eight badges and try to beat the elite four and the champion. I don't want to risk my life fighting against a monster that might not even exist! It's bad enough my own sister is trying to take me to try to do something or other to me, but I don't want to fight this fight! Let Ace and Shadow do it!"

"Shade" Enviro said, stepping towards his daughter. "You have to listen."

"No, you listen!" Shade yelled, tears actually beginning to form. "I didn't ask for this! I don't want any of this!"

"Then you don't have to have it." Ace said, stepping up to Shade and putting his arm around her. "I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"But, Shade" Enviro said. "You have to understand."

"You can't force her to do this if she doesn't want to." Shadow said. "We can't force her to become this warrior if she has no desire to."

"I know." Enviro said. "But, this is an urgent matter. The entire world could be at stake."

"We'll take care of it." Ace said. "We're used to handling things like this. We'll teach Shade to use her powers to the best of her abilities."

"Fine." Enviro said. "I'll take my leave. I must attend to other matters."

"Right." Ace said, him, Shadow, and Shade walking towards the portal. But, as the three of them walked outside of the portal, something reached out and tripped Ace, causing him to fall on his face and the contents of his jacket pockets to spill out. The contents of his pockets included several assortments of candies as well as a small, velvet box and a map of the region.

"You'll thank me later." Enviro's voice said from inside the portal as it closed.

"So that's where my candy went." Shadow said with a false accusatory look on her face.

"You gave it to me when we got here." Ace said, standing up and picking up the candy. Shadow picked up the box, opening it. When she saw the contents of the box, she gasped and put a hand up to her mouth, almost dropping it. By this time Ace had realized that she had picked up the box.

"That was for later." He said as he stood up and dusted himself off. "But, I guess it's time now."

"I" Shadow said, words not coming to her mouth. "I don't know what to say."

"Just take it." Ace said, walking over to her. "I promised I'd get you one when I asked you to marry me before. Now, do you accept it?"

"What is it?" Shade, Pyro, Psy, Felicia, and Maura (who actually just said 'Amaura?') asked, walking over to Shadow and looking in the box, all of them except Maura gasping (she went over and nuzzled Shadow's hand as if to coax an answer out of her).

"It's beautiful." Shadow said, pulling out the contents of the box, a ring with a beautiful Black Amethyst stone in it, and eyeing it. She looked at Ace with a playful smile on her face.

The next thing Ace knew, he was being tackled to the ground by his best friend, who locked her lips with his, surprising him. However, he grabbed Shadow by the back of the head, pulling her closer to him and deepening the kiss. They closed their eyes as Ace's hair began to turn a lighter shade, slowly becoming white.

The other five girls stood there watching, Maura with a smile on her face, Shade and Psy with 'aaaaawww' faces, and Pyro and Felicia with 'yuck' faces.

"So this is what it's like to be in a relationship." Felicia noted. "Well, this might get awkward"

"This is mostly for humans." Shade said.

"Well, it's weird." Felicia said.

"You're just jealous, aren't you?" Shade asked, looking down at Felicia (Shade is about ten inches taller than Felicia).

"Nope." Felicia said without hesitation.

Ace and Shadow were still making out and the other five beings were still watching. Shadow broke away from the kiss, looking into Ace's eyes. She leaned in close to Ace, whispering in his ear.

"Yes." Was the word she said, returning to the kiss.

"Okay" Felicia said, leaving the room and heading outside. "This is getting old."

"Well" Shade said, the three remaining members of her team still sort of watching. "They sure know how to show affection."

"I'm getting a headache." Psy said.

"I'm starting to feel it a little too." Pyro said.

"I don't feel anything." Shade said.

"It feels Dark." Psy said, rubbing her horns (the red things on top of her head). "You're a Dark type Pokémorph, so Dark type energy might not affect you as easily as us."

"Didn't Ace say something about a Darkrai's nightmare powers being tied into their emotions?" Pyro asked.

"Yeah." Psy said, thinking. "He said that a Darkrai would begin to lose their grip on their nightmare powers if they're experiencing passion or anger. If this is the beginning of a Nightmare, then you'd be immune to it Shade."

"But" Pyro said, thinking. "Why is it taking so long for this nightmare to affect us? If Ace's powers are so vast and uncontrollable, then how come they're taking so long to throw us into nightmares?"

"Maybe he's trying to hold them back?" Psy suggested.

"What do you mean?" Shade asked.

"To me Ace seems like he's got almost every aspect of his personality under control." Psy said. "I think he's trying to force his powers in as well as enjoy this little moment. Besides, think about it: Ace wouldn't have accepted the kiss if he wasn't absolutely sure he could handle his own powers."

"I guess you're right." Shade said. "Well, it seems that they're done."

Ace and Shadow stood up, both of them blushing a little.

"Woah." Was all Ace said. Shadow giggled a little.

"Didn't see it coming, did you?" Shadow asked, giggling.

"No." Ace said, almost speechless. "But, I do know that you said yes."

"Well" Shade said, causing the two blushing Kyuryoon to look at her. "Now that you've gotten your pent up feelings out of the way, we should discuss what we're going to do."

"Well." Ace said, his and Shadow's skin returning to their normal, slightly pale shade. "you should grab your third badge and we should leave. We're going to talk in depth once we leave the city."

"Alright." Shade said, nodding in understanding. They left the building to continue on their journey.

* * *

So, there's a different Zygarde this time around. Oh no! Who is it? Find out-well, i wouldn't say soon, there's a lot until that battle. But, next chapter is Shade's next gym battle. Find out how THAT goes soon.


	14. Rustown Part Three: Gym Battle

Chapter Ten: Rustown Part Three: Gym Battle

"So" Shade asked, beginning to prepare for her Gym battle. "Who's the next Gym leader?"

"Champa, I believe." Ace said, thinking. "He's a Fighting type Gym leader. You have decent chances with Psy. And, Felicia might know some good techniques to counter them as well, being an Angel type."

"But, how does that help?" Shade asked. "I only have two Pokémon."

"It's fine." Ace said. "But, you should be okay since you've got two Pokémon that are strong against Fighting types and one that is neutral."

"Yeah." Shadow said. Suddenly, the two Kyuryoon felt themselves being yanked backwards, a portal opening.

"We're being taken back!" Ace shouted. "Shade, you're strong enough to handle your journey, but be careful! Don't trust your sister! She's got darkness within her!"

The two disappeared, the portal closing, leaving Shade and her Pokémon alone. Maura looked sad, though Pyro comforted her by

"They're gone." Shade said, gasping.

"They did time travel." Psy said. "Perhaps they were simply drawn back to their time."

"True." Shade said. "Well, let's head to the Gym and get that badge."

"Yeah." The Pokémon said, nodding in agreement. They looked around town until they found the Gym, which looked like a martial arts dojo, complete with Kanji of several different schools.

"Wait a minute, this Kanji is just from anime." Shade said, looking at it. "There's the Turtle School from Dragon Ball and the Hidden leaf symbol from Naruto… weird…"

"Maybe he's still legitimate?" Psy suggested.

"And a weeb." Pyro chuckled.

"Guy's a nerd." Felicia said.

"Amaura?" Maura asked, confused.

"Oh yeah, since Ace is gone, I guess we take care of Maura." Shade said. "Well, I think we can train her, right guys?"

"We can try." Psy said, nodding. "She seems like she has potential to become a great fighter."

"Yeah." Pyro said. "I got a strange feeling that she could become a good fighter if she trains."

"Well, we could get some assistance to train her." Shade said. "Let's go."

"The Gym isn't the place for her anyway." Psy said. "She's Rock and Ice, a horrible combination for a Fighting Gym."

"True." Shade said. "Let's just go in."

The five beings entered the Gym, walking up to the challenger's ring. When they entered, the Gym Leader entered the room.

The Gym Leader was dressed in a black martial arts uniform with a red belt. He had four Pokéballs in his hand and he looked at Shade with a confident smirk.

"I am the Gym Leader, Champa." He said, bowing to her. "I will be your challenge. Defeat my four Pokémon and you shall earn my badge."

"Alright." Shade said. "Let's do it."

"Machoke, you're up!" Champa shouted, throwing the Pokéball into the air. The large, musclebound Pokémon emerged from his Pokéball, flexing and proud.

"Psy, can you handle it?" Shade asked.

"I'll try." The Kirlia nodded, stepping forward, summoning some Psychic power to her hands.

"Machoke, use Rock Tomb!" Champa shouted, the Machoke picking up rocks from the floor around them and throwing them at Psy, the Kirlia dodging them.

"Use Psybeam!" Shade shouted. Psy shot a powerful beam made of Psychic power at the Machoke, striking it directly in the chest. It seemed hurt, but it wasn't down for the count just yet.

"Revenge!" Champa shouted, the Machoke grabbing Psy and gut checking her with a powerful force. Psy actually coughed up blood as she dropped to her knees, the Fighting Attack being painful despite her resistance to it.

"Psy!" Shade shouted, worried for her best friend.

"I'm… still okay." Psy grunted, doubling over.

"You look pretty bad." The Machoke said. "Lemme guess: never been hit that hard?"

"Actually, no." Psy said, standing up shakily.

"Well, Revenge doubles its power if you strike me, so be wary of that." The Machoke said. "You are also not a physically defensive Pokémon, so that is something to be wary of."

"Why are you coaching me?" Psy asked, coughing a little.

"Because I want a fair and true fight." The Machoke cracked his knuckled. "It is no fun if you are not prepared for my attacks and don't guard fully against them."

"I see." Psy said. "I think I can use my Psychic powers to help."

"Good." The Machoke nodded. "When you are ready, we shall commence."

"Fine with me." Psy said, taking a deep breath. "Alright, I am ready."

"Good." The Machoke said. "Let us commence."

"Machoke, use Dynamic Punch!" Champa shouted.

"Barrier!" Shade countered.

Machoke's punch came in fast and hard, but Psy put up a Barrier, which stopped his attack by thrusting it back.

"Psybeam!" Shade shouted.

Psy nodded, firing another Psybeam into the Machoke's gut, knocking him backwards as he bounced on the ground.

"Machoke, use Cross Chop!" Champa shouted.

"You got it!" he shouted, rushing for Psy, his arms crossed as they glowed with a Fighting type power. He barreled into her, chopping her with both hands, knocking her out of the ring and causing her to crash into the wall. She fell to the ground, falling on her face, not moving.

"If she is not up by the count of ten, she will be declared unable to battle." Champa said as the countdown clock above them started to count from ten.

By eight Shade was getting nervous. By five a thought occurred that Psy might be more than just unconscious.

But, by one, the Psychic type began to move, levitating a little with her Psychic powers, moving over to the arena. With her powers, she rotated to a sitting position, but was still slumped over.

"This is odd." Champa said. "Is she okay?"

"I… I don't know." Shade said. "She's never done this before."

"Well, I hope she's not too badly injured." Champa said.

"Psy, uh, Psybeam." Shade commanded with a lot of uncertainty in her voice.

From the horns on Psy's head, a powerful burst of Psychic energy shot forth, the Machoke barely dodging it. The beam bored into the wall behind them, exploding it from the inside.

"That was some incredible power." He gasped. "Were you hiding this power the whole time… or have you just unlocked it?"

Psy didn't answer, another powerful blast emerging from the horns as the Machoke dodged once again.

"So, you aren't attacking with full control." He said, striking a fighting stance. "Well, I will prevent you from harming the other Pokémon."

"Psy, snap out of it!" Shade shouted.

"She can't." Felicia said. "She's out of control… her aura and power are out of her own control. We'll have to make her fall back fully unconscious if we want her to stop."

"How?" Shade asked.

"Like this." Machoke said, Dark energy surrounding his fist. "Payback!"

A powerful Psybeam hit him in the chest, nearly drilling through it as he moved up to Psy, slamming his fist into her head, sending her flying into the wall again. The Kirlia slumped to the ground, unmoving as she settled into true unconsciousness.

"There." The Machoke panted, falling backwards, letting his injuries overcome him.

"You did well, Machoke." Champa said, recalling him into the Pokéball. "I shall heal you after this battle."

"I have no idea what happened." Shade said. "This has never happened before. I'm so sorry."

"It is alright." Champa said. "We will figure out what to do later. For now, let us continue our battle."

"alright." Shade said, nodding as she looked at Pyro. "I choose Pyro."

"I choose Mankey." Champa said, throwing his Pokéball into the air. Out of it popped a small, monkey like Pokémon.

"You're goin' down, punk." She said to Pyro.

"Go ahead." Pyro smirked cockily. "Make my day."

The Mankey growled, rushing for Pyro.

"Wait Mankey!" Champa ordered, but it was no use. Mankey pulled back for a Force Palm to use on Pyro, but the Flareon dodged it, biting down on the Mankey's arm with a Fire Fang, throwing the Mankey with the force of her head swinging. The Mankey went flying, blood dripping from her arm as she landed on her feet, running over to Pyro and scratching her in the face with Scratch. Two cuts appeared on Pyro's face, blood coming from them.

"You bitch!" Pyro shouted, angry now. She sucked in a breath, letting loose with a powerful Flamethrower, which razed the arena. The Mankey barely dodged, some of her fur being singed. The arena was blackened from the fire, some of it even melting from the heat.

"Holy crap!" Shade exclaimed. "I didn't know she knew that!"

"Same here." Felicia said. "Quite powerful though."

"Amaura!" Maura nodded in agreement.

"You're mine, bitch!" Pyro used Quick Attack to close the gap and slam the Mankey to the ground with Iron Tail. She pinned the Fighting type down and sucked in another breath for another Flamethrower.

"Pyro, no!" Shade shouted. "You'll kill her!"

"Too late!" Pyro let loose with her Flamethrower, the Mankey screaming in agony as she felt the full heat.

Pyro stopped short, however, the Mankey still screaming as Pyro slammed her with another Iron Tail, her blackened fur still burning a little as she hit the wall, falling unconscious.

"I can tell this is a shock to you." Champa said. "Yet, I can also tell you know these Pokémon very well. I suppose you will learn training soon."

"Yeah." Shade said. "Could you help with that?"

"I suppose I can." Champa said. "If you can defeat me, I will lend you one of my Pokémon to help train you. She is very capable and can help all of your team. If she bonds with you, you can even permanently add her to your team."

"But, wouldn't that cripple your team?" Shade asked.

"No." Champa said. "She is an integral part, yes, but if you don't have some training, you could become a danger, if not to the world, to yourself. I can sense some strange power in you. You had best learn to control it if you wish to succeed."

"Understood." Shade nodded. "Let's continue."

"Right." Champa nodded, throwing out his next Pokéball. "Hitmonlee! I choose you!"

The neckless fighting type emerged from his Pokéball, bowing to Pyro, who smirked.

"Finally, somethin' worth fightin'." She grinned.

"You are a worthy opponent." Hitmonlee said, cracking his knuckles. "I will look forward to this."

"Bring it." Pyro let loose with a Flamethrower that nearly hit Champa, though the Gym Leader ducked to avoid it.

"You are powerful, but reckless." Hitmonlee said, dropping to the ground, springing himself into the air with a powerful leap. He came rushing back down, his foot crashing down on Pyro's back. The Flareon cried out in pain as she felt a crack in her back, but she held on, gritting her teeth to twist her neck to clamp down on Hitmonlee's leg with a Fire Fang.

"That will not work on me." Hitmonlee said. "I cannot be Burned with a Rawst Berry."

"You'll burn, alright." Flare said, throwing him by twisting her neck, letting loose with a Flamethrower that struck the Hitmonlee, nearly knocking him out.

"You are powerful." He panted. "But, you are also heavily weakened from my attacks."

"As are you." Pyro panted. "You're goin down."

"Do not be so sure." The Hitmonlee said. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Oh?" Pyro asked, intrigued. "Well, let's see 'em."

"Very well." The Hitmonlee said, leaping into the air once more. "Hi Jump Kick!"

The Hitmonlee began to fall back down, extending his leg to slam it down on Pyro once again. However, Pyro rolled over, the Hitmonlee missing as he slammed into the ground, a crack resounding from him as he felt the recoil shock. Flare sucked in a breath, letting loose one last Flamethrower, the Hitmonlee passing out from the damage.

Flare chuckled once, falling over, passed out. She smirked as Shade picked her up, carrying her over to the outside of the ring.

"You did well, Hitmonlee." Champa said, recalling him. "Now, you face my last Pokémon."

"Alright." Shade nodded. "Send her out."

"I shall." Champa said, sending out his next Pokémon, a Riolu. The blue, canine like Pokémon stood, getting into a fighting pose as she faced off against Felicia, who stepped up to the ring.

"Let's do this." Felecia said, cracking her knuckles.

"Do not underestimate me." The Riolu said. "I shall not lose to you."

"Prove it." Felicia said, summoning Fairy type energy to her hands.

The two rushed at each other, powerful punching attacks colliding in midair and sending shockwaves out from them. The two were thrown back as they rushed forward once again, colliding with a force to shatter the ring. They seemed pretty evenly matched, both getting off hits.

However, they both landed, panting as they'd tired themselves out.

"You're undertrained." The Riolu said.

"And, you're inexperienced." Felicia said. "So, we're even."

"Fine." The Riolu said. "Let us exchange names before the final attack we both give."

"Fine." Felicia said. "Mine's Felicia. Yours?"

"Kara." The Riolu said. "I would enjoy training with you after this."

"Sounds good to me." Felicia said. "Let's do it."

"very well." Kara said, summoning her full power to her palms. She rushed at Felicia, who rushed at her.

"Aura Sphere!" Kara shouted, firing a blue sphere at Felicia.

"Dazzling Gleam!" Felicia shouted, firing a hard ray of light at Kara. Both attacks struck the intended target, both falling to the ground, injured. However, Kara fainted first, falling unconscious.

"Looks like you've won." Champa chuckled as Felicia fainted as well. "I surrender the badge to you as well as the TM for Force Palm."

Shade took the things from him, putting Felicia on Maura's back and carrying Pyro and Psy.

"Take Kara with you as well." Champa said. "she will aid you in your quest."

"Are you sure?" Shade asked.

"You could use some training yourself." Champa said. "You are inexperienced still, which could be a problem for you later on."

"Uh, thanks." Shade said, taking Kara's Pokéball. "I'll heal these guys up and we'll be off to the next town."

"Good luck." Champa nodded. "You will need it if you wish to succeed in your journey. I believe you have the potential to even challenge our champion if you wished."

"I will try my best." Shade nodded. "what's the Champion like?"

"No one knows." Champa said. "We don't even know their gender. Only that they are very powerful and very capable of destroying their opponents with relative ease. It is even said that they use Legends in their battles, making them even more formidable."

"I'll bet." Shade nodded. "That's something I'll have to help train them to beat if I want to take the Champion on."

"you will have to learn your full courage if you wish to gain the strength to battle them." Champa said. "But, your bond with your team is strong. I'm sure you can do it."

"I guess." Shade said. "We'll see."

"I'm sure we will." Champa nodded. "Good luck, Shade."

"thanks." Shade said, exiting the Gym and heading to the Pokémon Center, entering and handing her Pokémon to the Nurse that was there.

"We'll be done soon sweetie." The Nurse said, smiling. "In the meantime, rest."

"Okay." Shade nodded, sitting down with Maura. The Amaura nuzzled her head to Shade's, smiling.

"Thanks, Maura." She pet the Ice and Rock type.

"Amaura!" Maura said, which translated to 'you're welcome'.

"I guess you're still too young for me to understand." Shade chuckled. "I'm sure you're gonna become strong, just like the rest."

"Amaura!" Maura nodded, smiling wide.

"You sure have confidence for it." Shade chuckled. "Well, let's see how that confidence helps us."

The two sat for a few hours, playing with each other. Shade would pet Maura while she nuzzled her and then Maura would lick Shade, causing her to shiver from the cold tongue the young Amaura had.

"You know, that's pretty cold." She said, nuzzling her and stroking her.

"What's taking so long?" another trainer near her asked. "I've been here for hours. My Pokémon only had a small cut that I wanted to make sure wasn't infected! What's taking so long for it?!"

"Now that you mention it, it is taking a while." Shade said. "Why are they taking so long?"

"Sorry for the inconvenience." A nurse said, coming out, her demeanor more nervous than before. "There is an issue with the machine. Please be patient with us. We are working to sort it out."

"Ma'am, are you okay?" Shade asked.

"Just fine, trainer." The Nurse looked at the door. "I am A-Okay."

"I think I'll just see how my Pokémon are." Shade said.

"No!" the Nurse said, walking up to her and blocking her way. "There's no need!"

"Get off of me." Shade pushed her, opening the door. She opened it, walking down the hallway, stopping at a closet that had thumping sounds coming from it.

Shade opened the door, gasping at the sight of the bound and gagged nurse kicking the door. The nurse looked at Shade, wide-eyed.

"What's going on here?" Shade asked, removing her gag. "Why are you in here? Where are my Pokémon?"

"r-r-raZe Corp." She stammered out, shrinking back as Shade began to untie her. At the mention of the name raZe Corp, Shade immediately went on the instinctive. She finished untying her, helping her up.

"Where are they?" She asked. "Where are my Pokémon?"

"they took every Pokémon." The Nurse said. "Something about their plans of gaining power."

"Crap!" Shade said. "We have to get them back!"

"How?" the Nurse asked. "You have one Pokémon against all of theirs."

"And, she's a baby." Shade said, biting her lower lip. "Let's figure it out as we go. I'm Shade. What's your name?"

"Charity." The Nurse said. "That Nurse that locked me in here is an imposter. I'm not even sure if she's human."

"If not, then, she's a Pokémon." Shade said. "Perhaps a Ditto?"

"Oh, I'm not just a Ditto" the voice of the Nurse from earlier said, Shade and the Nurse looking to see her right there nearby, laughing as she shifted into a human like form. "I'm the most powerful Ditto in the employment of raZe Corp."

* * *

 _Oh, crap. This isn't good. What's gonna happen to Shade and Charity? Find out soon._

 _So, yeah, this is back... I can't believe i stopped working on it for so long... but, it's back and i'm gonna finish it._

 _Also, I got rid of Ace and Shadow because one, I can't get into their characters as much since i'm used to the remastered versions and two, they have to get back to their present time so they can get towards the part where they get married and have kids so Team Lunar Fire can happen XD_


End file.
